Excessive expression of adenosine kinase in brain tissue of patients with refractory epilepsy / 中国医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To observe the expression of adenosine kinase (ADK) in the hippocampus of patients with refractory epilepsy, and to explore the role of ADK in the pathogenesis of refractory epilepsy.Methods:Thirteen patients with intractable epilepsy who underwent surgical resection of hippocampal tissue at the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University were collected as the epilepsy group; At the same time, 4 cases of relatively normal temporal lobe brain tissue from patients with traumatic brain injury undergoing debridement surgery (without previous history of epileptic seizures) were collected, and these 4 patients served as the control group. The expression of ADK in two groups of specimens was detected at the tissue, gene, and protein levels using methods such as dual fluorescence immunohistochemistry, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT Real time PCR), and Western blotting.Results:In the human brain, ADK was mainly expressed in the nucleus of astrocytes. Through histological observation, ADK was weakly expressed in normal brain tissue, while there is significant proliferation of glial cells and excessive expression of ADK in the brain tissue of patients with refractory epilepsy. The percentage of ADK positive glial cells in the epilepsy group was (53.90±17.59)%, and the control group was (23.82±4.18)%, with a statistically significant difference ( P<0.01). At the genetic level, using RT Real time PCR, it was found that the expression level of ADK mRNA in the epilepsy group was higher than that in the control group, with a 2 -△△Cp of 13.36, which was 13.36 times higher than that in the control group. At the protein level, the expression of ADK protein in the epilepsy group was found to be higher than that in the control group using protein immunoblotting ( P<0.01). Conclusions:ADK is weakly expressed in the nucleus of astrocytes in normal human brain tissue. In the brain tissue of patients with refractory epilepsy, astrocytes significantly proliferate and there is excessive expression of ADK. ADK may play an important role in the occurrence and development of refractory epilepsy in humans.