Objective   To study the effect of triptolide on apoptosis of human cutaneous T-cell lymphoma Hut102 cells and its mechanism.  Methods   Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma cell line Hut102 was co-cultured with triptolide solution at the terminal concentration of 12.5

25

50 and 100 nmol/L

respectively

in 96 well plates．At 24，48，and 72 h after co-culture，inhibitory effect of triptolide on Hut102 cells was detected by MTT assay

apoptosis rate of Hut102 cells was assessed by Annexin V-FITC/PI

and expression of phosphorylated p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p-p38MAPK ) and caspase-3 was determined by Western blot analysis.  Results   Triptolide inhibited the proliferation of Hut102 cells in a concentration-and time-dependent manner. Annexin V-FITC/PI showed that the apoptotic rate of Hut102 cells was 9.19%，21.49% and 26.34%

respectively

in 24 h after they were treated with triptolide at the concentration of 25

50 and 100 nmol/L

  respectively．However，the apoptosis rate of Hut102 cells was decreased by 14.35% after they were interfered with the p38MAPK inhibitor (SB203580). The expression of p-p38MAPK and caspase-3 was activated in Hut102 cells by different concentrations of triptolide (50 and 100 nmol/L). However

the expression of phosphorylated p38MAPK was decreased and the activity of caspase-3 was inhibited by triptolide at the concentration of 50 nmol/L interfered with SB203580.  Conclusion   Triptolide can inhibit the proliferation of Hut102 cells by activating the p38MAPK signal pathway

thus inducing apoptosis of certain Hut102 cells．