Berberine,a major constituent of Coptidis rhizoma,exhibits neural protective effects.The present study analyzed the potential protective effect of berberine against amyloid β-induced cytotoxicity in rat cerebral cortical neurons.Alzheimer’s disease cell models were treated with 0.5 and 2 μmol/L berberine for 36 hours to inhibit amyloid β-induced toxicity.Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling staining results showed that berberine significantly increased cell viability and reduced cell apoptosis in primary cultured rat cortical neurons.In addition,western blot analysis revealed a protective effect of berberine against amyloid β-induced toxicity in cultured cortical neurons,which coincided with significantly decreased abnormal up-regulation of activated caspase-3.These results showed that berberine exhibited a protective effect against amyloid β-induced cytotoxicity in cultured rat cortical neurons. Berberine,a chief constituent of Coptidis rhizoma,exhibits neural protective effects.The present study analyzed the potential protective effect of berberine against amyloid β-induced cytotoxicity in rat cerebral cortical neurons.Alzheimer’s disease cell models were treated with 0.5 and 2 μmol/L berberine For 36 hours to inhibit amyloid β-induced toxicity.Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling staining results showed that berberine significantly increased cell viability and reduced cell apoptosis in primary cultured rat cortical neurons.In addition,western Blot analysis revealed that a protective effect of berberine against amyloid β-induced toxicity in cultured cortical neurons, which coincided with significantly decreased abnormal up-regulation of activated caspase-3.These results was showed that berberine exhibited a protective effect against amyloid β-induced cytotoxicity in Cultured rat cortical neurons.