Abstract: OBJECTIVE To research the protective effect of clarithromycin (CAM) on cortical neurons deprived of oxygen and glucose in rats and its related apoptosis mechanisms.METHODS Extraction of primary rat cortical neurons,to establish the oxygen glucose deprivation (OGD) model with CAM pretreatment;the survival/apoptosis detection kit was used to detect the cell apoptosis;LDH kit was used to measure the content of LDH in the medium of each group to evaluate the apoptosis.The expression of caspase-3,Bax and Bcl-2 in each group were detected by Western blot.RESULTS After treatment with OGD,compared with the control group,the apoptosis of cortical neurons and the content of lactic acid were significantly increased,the difference was significant (P<0.01);With 100 μmol·L^-1 CAM pretreatment the apoptosis and LDH release induced by OGD was significantly reduced (P<0.01).After treatment with OGD,the expression of caspase-3 and Bax/Bcl-2 in cortical neurons was significantly higher than that in control group (P<0.01),while CAM pretreatment effectively reduced the expression of caspase-3 and Bax/Bcl-2.CONCLUSION CAM has protective effect on cortical neurons deprived of oxygen and glucose,which may be related to the promotion of caspase-3,upregulation of Bax,downregulation of Bcl-2 protein on apoptosis related pathways.