Metformin Inhibits Propofol-Induced Apoptosis of Mouse Hippocampal Neurons HT-22 Through Downregulating Cav-1.

Objective: To elucidate the neuroprotective function of metformin in suppressing propofol-induced apoptosis of HT-22 cells.

Methods: HT-22 cells were treated with 0, 10 or 100 μmol/L propofol, followed by determination of their proliferative ability. Subsequently, changes in proliferation and apoptosis of propofol-treated HT-22 cells induced with metformin were assessed. Apoptosis-associated genes in HT-22 cells were detected by Western blot. At last, regulatory effects of Cav-1 on propofol and metformin-treated HT-22 cells were examined.

Results: Propofol treatment dose-dependently decreased proliferative ability and increased apoptosis ability in HT-22 cells, which were partially blocked by metformin administration. Upregulated Bcl-2 and downregulated Bax were observed in propofol-treated HT-22 cells following metformin administration. In addition, Cav-1 level in HT-22 cells was regulated by metformin treatment. Notably, metformin reversed propofol-induced apoptosis stimulation and proliferation decline in HT-22 cells via downregulating Cav-1.

Conclusion: In our study, we found that propofol could induce apoptosis of HT-22 cells and metformin could rescue the apoptosis effect regulated by propofol. Then, we found that metformin protects propofol-induced neuronal apoptosis via downregulating Cav-1.