Figure 4. The inhibition of bupivacaine-induced Schwann cell apoptosis by anti-oxidant treatment. (A) Treatment with 5 mM NAC and 0.1 mM Trolox, which inhibited the production of intracellular ROS, significantly reversed the Schwann cell death induced by 500 µM bupivacaine treatment, as determined by MTT assay. (B) The blocking effects of the anti-oxidants on caspase-3 and PARP expressions were detected by Western blotting at 9-hour incubation with 500 µM bupivacaine, and these data represent a typical experiment conducted three times with similar results. (–), untreated; (+), treated. The diagrams show the results of 5 independent experiments. Values are mean ± SD. *p < 0.05 statistically different from 500 µM bupivacaine treatment group.