# Connect to database
my $dbh = DBI->connect("DBI:mysql:database",'username','password') or print DBI->errstr;

# Prepare and execute query
my $query = $dbh->prepare_cached('INSERT INTO test (text) VALUES (?)') or print $dbh->errstr;
$query->execute('A Â Ã Ä') or print $query->errstr;

# Disconnect
$dbh->disconnect;