Abstract: Objective: To determine the protective effect of genistein on acute light damage induced by UVA in fibroblasts cells. Methods: Fibroblasts cells cultured in vitro were divided into the control group, UVA group and UVA +0.01，0.1，1，10，100 μmol/L genistein group. The proliferation activity, apoptosis rate and the level of Sirt1mRNA were detected by the cck8 experiment method, flow cytometry and RT-PCR, respectively. Results: Compared with the UVA group, the proliferation activity and the level of Sirt1mRNA in the UVA+ 0.01，0.1，1，10μmol/L genistein group was significantly increased and the apoptosis rate was significantly decreased (Ps<0.05), while there was no significant difference in apoptosis rate between the UVA +100 umol/L genistein group and UVA group (P>0.05). Conclusion: 0.01-10 μmol/L genistein is effective in protecting the fibroblasts cells from acute light damage induced by UVA.

Key words: genistein, UVA, fibroblasts cells