title: Cortical expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha after human brain contusion.
abstract: Recent studies have demonstrated that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-alpha (PPAR-alpha) agonists can protect the brain against excessive oxidative stress and inflammation in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and stroke through endogenous PPAR-alpha. However, it has not been investigated whether, and to what degree, cerebral expression of PPAR-alpha changes after TBI, especially in the human brain. In this study, 12 contused brain samples were obtained from 11 patients undergoing surgery for TBI 6 - 98 h after trauma. PPAR-alpha binding activity was measured by electrophoretic mobility shift assay, and temporal and cellular expression of PPAR-alpha by immunohistochemistry. The results showed that a persistent upregulation of PPAR-alpha binding activity and protein expression occurred in injured cortex after TBI, which peaked 24 - 72 h post-injury. Expression of PPAR-alpha was mainly located in glial and vascular endothelial cells with a little expression in the neurons. It is concluded that TBI could greatly upregulate the binding activity and protein expression of PPAR-alpha in injured human brain, which might be important in brain pathophysiology after TBI.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Jiangyin Hospital, School of Medicine, Southeast University, Jiangyin, China. jeanne88@163.com
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D047493:PPAR alpha / Q000819:agonists / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D047493:PPAR alpha