Ischemic preconditioning relieves ischemia/reperfusion injury of hippocampus neurons in rat by inhibiting p53 and bax expressions.
OBJECTIVE
To examine whether ischemic preconditioning (IPC) can protect neuron against delayed death in CA1 subfield of hippocampus following reperfusion of a lethal ischemia in rats, and explore the role of p53 and bax in this process.


METHODS
We examined the effect of IPC on delayed neuron death, neuron apoptosis, expressions of p53 and bax gene in the CA1 area of hippocampus in the rats using HE staining, flow cytometry, RT-PCR, and immunohistochemistry technique.


RESULTS
IPC enhanced the quantity of survival cells in the CA1 region of hippocampus (216 +/- 9 cells/0.72 mm2 vs. 30 +/- 5 cells/0.72 mm2, P < 0.01) , decreased the percentages of apoptotic neurons of hippocampus caused by ischemia/reperfusion (2.06% +/- 0.21% vs. 4.27% +/- 0.08%, P < 0.01 ), and weakened the expressions of p53 and bax gene of hippocampus compared with ischemia/reperfusion without IPC.


CONCLUSIONS
IPC can protect the neurons in the CA1 region of hippocampus against apoptosis caused by ischemia/reperfusion, and this process may be related to the reduced expressions of p53 and bax.
Liu
Hui-Min
HM
Institute of Physiology, School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012.
Li
Jing-Xin
JX
Chen
Lian-Bi
LB
D000818:Animals; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D016158:Genes, p53; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000293:injuries*; D019194:Ischemic Preconditioning / Q000379:methods*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D015427:Reperfusion Injury / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics*; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics*
D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53; D051028:bcl-2-Associated X Protein