Abstract:

Objective To investigate the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and nuclear factor (NF-κB) in hippocampus of rats with status epilepticus (SE). Methods Twenty Wistar rats were intraperitoneally injected with 10% pilocarpine (300 mg/kg)(SE group),and injection was ceased 60 min after SE onset. Besides, six rats treated with same amount of normal saline were served as control group. Hippocampus tissues of rats were obtained 24 h after treatment, the number of neurons in CA3 area of hippocampus was observed with HE staining, the expression of NF-κB and TNF-α in hippocampus tissues was determined by Western blotting and ELISA respectively. Pearson correlation analysis was adopted to explore the correlation between the expression of TNF-α and that of NF-κB. Results The number of neurons in CA3 area of hippocampus in SE group was much smaller than that in control group (53.26±2.67 vs 103.22±0.83, P<0.001）. The expression of TNF-α and NF-κB in hippocampus tissues in SE group was significantly higher than that in control group （P<0.001, P<0.05）, and there was a positive correlation between the expression of TNF-α and that of NF-κB in SE group （r=0.457，P=0.02）. Conclusion The expression of TNF-α and NF-κB in hippocampus tissues of rats increases 24 h after SE, and there is a positive correlation between the expression of TNF-α and that of NF-κB.

Key words: status epilepticus, tumor necrosis factor-α, nuclear factor-κB, rat