Effect of MBG on the activation of caspase 3/7 (A), caspase 8 (B), and caspase 9 (C) activities in RLMEC. On the ordinate are plotted the percentages of caspase activity compared with basal. Caspases 3/7, 8 and 9 activities were significantly increased in MBG-treated cells compared with DMSO-treated cells (*P < 0.001 for basal vs. 1, 10, and 100 nM MBG treatment). The results are presented as the means ± SE (n = 5, 8 replicates each). The 0.1 nM MBG treatment had no effect. Pretreatment with a p38 inhibitor attenuated the activation of caspase 3/7, 8, and 9 activities (†P < 0.001), while the Jnk inhibitor had no effect on MBG-induced caspase activation.