Objective:To study the effects of propofol on Bax and Bcl-2 expression induced by tumour necrosis factor-α(TNF-α) in mouse spinal cord neurons in vitro. Methods:Spinal cord neurons were isolated from fetal mice and cultured in Neurobasal medium with B27 supplement. On the 7th day, cultured neurons were randomly divided into 6 groups:control group, propofol(50 μmol/L)group, TNF-α group, propofol(25 μmol/L)with TNF-α group, propofol(50 μmol/L)with TNF-α group, and propofol(100 μmol/L)with TNF-α group. Propofol was added to the cultured cells respectively and the cells were incubated for 30 min. Then TNF-α was added to the cultured cells(the final concentration of TNF-α was 2 000 U/ml) and incubated for 24 h. The Bax and Bcl-2 expression were measured by immunocytochemical technique. Results:In TNF-α group, the expression of Bax increased and the expression of Bcl-2 decreased (P<0.01, vs control). However, treatment with various concentrations of propofol (25, 50, 100 μmol/L) decreased the expression of Bax and increased the expression of Bcl-2 (P<0.05, P<0.05, P<0.05, vs TNF-α). Conclusion:Propofol can inhibit the apoptosis induced by TNF-α by modulating the expression of Bax and Bcl-2.