Abstract: Objective To investigate the protective effect of carnosine in oxidative stress induced by H2O2 in N2a cells. Methods The N2a cells were divided into three groups: normal control; H2O2 group; carnosine group: carnosine was used in advance. Cell morphology was observed by phase-contrast microscope; immunohistochemistry and Western blot were applied to detect expression of AKT1 and FAS-L. Results Carnosine significantly increased cell proliferation. Compared with control group，cell morphology changed significantly, cell shrinkage, membrane thickened, foaming phenomenon in H2O2 injury group; In the carnosine protection group, carnosine significantly inhibited the H2O2-induced cellular injury, cell morphology obviously better than H2O2 group. Compared with the control group, the expression of the AKT1 down-regulated and Fas-L up-regulated in H2O2 group, but in the carnosine protection group, the expression of the AKT1 up-regulated and Fas-L down-regulated than H2O2 group (P<0.05). Conclusions Carnosine obviously reduced H2O2-induced cellular injury in N2a cells.

Key words: N2a cell, carnosine, oxidative stress, Akt1, Fas-L