Effect of edaravone on apoptosis of hippocampus neuron in seizures rats kindled by pentylenetetrazole

X.-l. Cheng, J.J. Zhang

Department of Neurology, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University; Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Yangtze University, China. jiubingcheng@126.com

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• Pharmacology

OBJECTIVES: To explore the effect of edaravone (ED) on apoptosis of hippocampus neurons in seizures rats induced by pentylenetetrazole (PTZ).

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Forty-eight adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal control (NC) group, PTZ group, and ED group. A dose of PTZ [35 mg/(kg·day)] was intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected into the rats of PTZ group and ED group until the kindling criterion was reached. After kindling, the rats of ED group were administered i.p. with ED [0.8 mg/(kg·day)]; the rats of PTZ group were administered i.p. with normal saline. After 30 min, seizures were induced by administering PTZ i.p. The influence of ED on Fas, Caspase-3, and Survivin protein immunoreactivity on hippocampus neurons was studied by immunohistochemistry method.

RESULTS: Fas and Caspase-3 positive cells and optical density in hippocampus in PTZ group were more than that of ED group and NC group (all p < 0.01), but Survivin-positive cells and optical density in hippocampus in PTZ group were less than that of ED group (p < 0.01) and were more than that of NC group (p < 0.05); Fas- and Caspase-3-positive cells and optical density in hippocampus in ED group were more than that of NC group (all p < 0.05), but Survivin-positive cells and optical density in hippocampus in ED group were more than that of NC group (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS: Seizure can induce apoptosis of hippocampus neurons on seizures rats, but ED can resist the apoptosis of hippocampus neurons by increased expression of Survivin and decreased expression of Fas and Caspase-3.

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