Abstract: OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of acanthopanax B(ACA-B) on IL-1β-induced apoptosis of osteoarthritic chondrocytes. METHODS SD rat chondrocytes were randomly divided into 5 groups: control group (PBS), model group (IL-1β), ACA-B low-dose group (IL-1β+1×10^-8 mol·L^-1 ACA-B), ACA-B medium dose group (IL-1β+1×10^-7 mol·L^-1 ACA-B), and ACA-B high-dose group (IL-1β+1×10^-6 mol·L^-1 ACA-B); CCK8 assay was used to determine the effects of different concentrations of ACA-B on chondrocytes proliferation and IL-1β-treated chondrocytes activity; Hoechst 33342 staining was used to observe the apoptosis of cartilage nucleus; mRNA expression levels of apoptosis-related genes were detected by qRT-PCR; The expression of apoptosis-related proteins was detected by Western blotting. RESULTS ACA-B could significantly promote chondrocyte proliferation when the concentration was 1×10^-6 mol·L^-1 or 1×10^-7 mol·L^-1. Compared with model group, the cell activity of ACA-B groups were significantly increased. The results of Hoechst 33342 staining showed that ACA-B could significantly improve the nuclear fragmentation and atrophy of cartilage induced by IL-1β, and inhibit apoptosis. Compared with the model group, the mRNA and protein levels of Bax, Caspase-3, Caspase-8 and Caspase-9 in the ACA-B intervention group were significantly decreased, while the mRNA and protein levels of Bcl-2 were significantly increased. CONCLUSION ACA-B can effectively inhibit IL-1β-induced apoptosis of osteoarthritis chondrocytes.