Figure 3.

Artemisinin inhibited H₂O₂-induced increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and restored the mitochondrial membrane potential in SH-SY5Y cells. (A). After pre-treatment with 12.5 μM artemisinin or 0.1% DMSO (vehicle control) for 2 h, SH-SY5Y cells were incubated with or without 600 μM H₂O₂ for another 24 h. The decline in the membrane potential was reflected by the shift of fluorescence from red to green indicated by JC-1. The pictures have been taken at a magnification of 40× (100 μm). (B). Intracellular ROS level was measured by the CellROXs Deep Red Reagent. The pictures has been taken on 40× (100 μm). (C). Quantitative analysis of (A). (D). Quantitative analysis of (B). The data were represented as the mean ± SD of three independent experiments. *** p < 0.001, ^## p < 0.01.