The protective effect of dexmedetomidine on apoptosis of hippocampal neurons in rats with status epilepticus by regulating MAPK/ERK-CREB pathway / 中风与神经疾病杂志

ABSTRACT

@#Objective　To investigate the protective effect of dexmedetomidine (DEX) on apoptosis of hippocampal neurons in rats with status epilepticus (SE) by regulating MAPK/ERK-CREB pathway.Methods　SE rat model was established by intraperitoneal injection of lithium pilocarpine,and was randomly divided into 4 groups,with 10 rats in each group.1 μmol/L of DEX was injected intraperitoneally in the SE+DEX group and 1 μmol/L of phenobarbital was injected intraperitoneally in the positive control group,after 24 hours of drug intervention,Nissl and TUNEL methods were used to detect the damage and apoptosis of hippocampal neurons,and Western blot was used to detect the expression of MAPK,p-ERK,p-CREB and caspase-3,Bcl-2,Bax in hippocampus of rats.Results　Compared with the control group,the Racine scores of SE group,positive control group and SE+DEX group were significantly higher (P<0.05),the number of hippocampal neurons and the expression of Bcl-2 protein expressions were decreased significantly (P<0.05),and the number of sepia TUNEL positive cells,MAPK,p-ERK,p-CREB,caspase-3,Bax,Bax/Bcl-2 protein levels increased significantly (P<0.05).Compared with the SE group,the Racine scores of the positive control group and the SE+DEX group were significantly lower (P<0.05),the number of hippocampal neurons and the expression of Bcl-2 protein were significantly increased (P<0.05),and the number of sepia TUNEL positive cells,MAPK,p-ERK,p-CREB,caspase-3,Bax,Bax/Bcl-2 protein expressions decreased significantly (P<0.05).Conclusions　DEX may inhibit apoptosis of hippocampal neurons by inhibiting MAPK/ERK-CREB pathway,and then improve epilepsy in rats.