The effect of nimodipine injecting into cisterna magna on mitochondrial pathway in hippocampus of rabbit model of subarachnoid hemorrhage / 天津医药

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of nimodipine (ND) injecting into cisterna magna on the mitochondrial pathway in hippocampus in rabbit model of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Methods Eighteen New Zealand white rabbits were randomly allocated to Sham group, SAH group and ND group, six in each group. All the animals underwent operation under anaesthesia. One mL/kg autologous non-heparinized arterial blood was injected into cisterna magna in SAH group and ND group, and the same dosage of saline was injected into cisterna magna in Sham group. Thirty minutes after injection, 1 mg/kg nimodipine was injected into cisterna magna in ND group, and equal-volume of saline was injected into cisterna magna in Sham group and SAH group. All the animals were assessed for the grade of food intake and neurological impairment, and rats were killed 72 hours after SAH. Their hippocampus were processed for detecting the expressions of Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-3 and Cyt-C mRNA by qRT-PCR. The protein expressions of Caspase-3 and Cyt-C were detected by Western blot assay. Results Compared with the Sham group, there were lower grade of food intake, varying degrees of neurological impairment and lower ratio of Bcl-2/Bax, while the mRNA levels of Bcl-2, Bax, Caspase-3 and Cyt-C and protein levels of Caspase-3 and Cyt-C showed elevated expressions in SAH group and ND group (P0.05). There were higher ratio of Bcl-2/Bax and expression levels of Bcl-2 mRNA and lower expression levels of Bax mRNA, Caspase-3 and Cyt-C mRNA and proteins in ND group than those in SAH group (P<0.05). Conclusion Nimodipine plays a protective role in inhibiting the activity of mitochondrial pathway in hippocampus after subarachnoid hemorrhage.