Inhibition of saikosaponin a on intracellular free calcium concentration and interleukin-6 release in hippocampal astrocytes actived by glutamate

Objective To study the effect of saikosaponin a(SSa) on intracellular free calcium concentration() and interleukin-6 in hippocampal astrocytes actived by glutamate.Methods A cell culture model of neonatal Spague-Dawley rat hippocampal astrocytes were used.After exposed to extracellular fluid with calcium,L-glutamate(0.1 mmol/L),L-glutamate and SSa of different concentration(1.25 mg/L and 0.625 mg/L) for 12 hours,changes of i and IL-6 were observed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and fluorescent Ca2+ indicator Fura-3/AM respectively.Results Elevation of intracellular Ca2+ fluorescence intensity and increased expression of IL-6(P0.01) were observed in glutamate group.Compararing with glutamate group,elevation of i and IL-6 expression were decreased after astrocytes were incubated with SSa(P0.01).The i and IL-6 level in 1.25 mg·L-1 of SSa group and control group showed no significant differences(P0.05).Conclusion SSa could effectively inhibit the hippocampal astrocytes from decreasing i.and secreting IL-6,and the inhibitory effect on elevation of i and IL-6 expression may be one of the mechanisms of its anti-epilepsy effect.