Expression of Caspase-12 in cellular apoptosis of hippocampus in the rat model of posttraumatic stress disorder / 解剖学报

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe changes of apoptosis and Caspase-12 expression in hippocampus of the rat model of posttraumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ) .Methods Single prolonged stress ( SPS ) was used to duplicate a rat model of PTSD.Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 1, 4, 7 days groups after exposure to SPS and a normal control group.Transmission electron microscopy was used to observe morphologic changes of the hippocampus neurons .The expression of Caspase-12 was detected by immunohistochemistry , Western blotting and RT-PCR.Results After SPS, the hippocampus neurons had characteristic morphologic changes of apoptosis , and the expression of Caspase-12 reached the peak at SPS 4d.Conclusion PTSD activates the ERS-mediated apoptosis in hippocampus via Caspase-12, which may be a pathophysiology base of the atrophy of the hippocampus in PTSD .