Abstract: Objective To investigate the effects of astaxanthin on high glucose induced lesion in human conditional immortalized podocytes. Methods Human podocytes were cultured in vitro. According to the culture conditions, human podocytes were divided into normal glucose group (NG), high glucose group (HG),
high permeability group (MA), and HG+astaxanthin (10～6 M, 10～5 M and 10～4 M) groups. Apoptosis of human podocytes in each group was examined by flow cytometry after the culture for 24 hours. Cell adhesion was assayed by centrifugation to determine the effect of astaxanthin on podocyte adhesion. Results The early apoptosis rate of podocytes was higher in HG group than in NG group (7.7±0.9% vs. 2.7±0.74%, P=0.000). Astaxanthin reduced the early apoptosis of podocytes in a dose-dependent manner (5.7±1.0%, P=0.017; 5.2± 0.7%, P=0.006; 4.3±0.9%, P=0.001). High dose of astaxanthin could increase podocyte adhesion (67.2±4.3% vs. 37.9±9%, P=0.017). Conclusion Astaxanthin prevents podocytic apoptosis and reduced adhesion induced by HG.

Key words: Human podocyte, Astaxanthin, Apoptosis