The effects of sodium salicylate on the expression of heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) during oxidative stress in tissue-cultured human lens epithelial cells were investigated. Cultured hu-man lens epithelial cells (HLB-3) were divided into 3 groups: control group (group A), oxidation in-jury group (group B) and sodium salicylate group (group C). Apoptosis of human lens epithelial cells cultured in vitro was induced in the presence of 150 μmol/L H2O2. Cells viability and the expression of HSP27 were analyzed. Viability of the cells was measured by methyl thiazole tetrazolium (MTT) chromatometry. The expression of HSP27 in HLB-3 cells was detected by using immunohistochem-istry and image analysis system. Sodium salicylate could induce the expression of HSP27, and the cells viability in group C was significantly higher than in group B (0.2667±0.01414 vs 0.2150±0.01080, P=0.012<0.05). The average gray value of HSP27 in group B was less than that in group C (P=0.000<0.05). The increased expression of HSP27 by sodium salicylate might play an important role in the protection of hydrogen peroxide-induced injury of human lens epithelial cells, suggesting that sodium salicylate could suppress, at least in part, the apoptosis of human lens epithe-lial cells.
