| Summary: | Medicinal herbal plants have been commonly used for intervention in different diseases and improvement of health worldwide. Koumine, an alkaloid monomer found abundantly in <i>Gelsemium</i> plants, can be effectively used as an antioxidant. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential protective effect of koumine against hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>)-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in porcine intestinal epithelial cell line (IPEC-J2 cells). MTT assays showed that koumine significantly increased cell viability in H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>-mediated IPEC-J2 cells. Preincubation with koumine ameliorated H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>-medicated apoptosis by decreasing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, and efficiently suppressed the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release and malondialdehyde (MDA) production. Moreover, a loss of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione (GSH) activities was restored to normal level in H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>-induced IPEC-J2 cells upon koumine exposure. Furthermore, pretreatment with koumine suppressed H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>-mediated loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, caspase-9 and caspase-3 activation, decrease of Bcl-2 expression and elevation of Bax expressions. Collectively, the results of this study indicated that koumine possesses the cytoprotective effects in IPEC-J2 cells during exposure to H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> by suppressing production of ROS, inhibiting the caspase-3 activity and influencing the expression of Bax and Bcl-2. Koumine could potentially serve as a protective effect against H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>-induced apoptosis.
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