Effect of Etomidate on the Expressions of c-JUN and Heat Shock Protein 70 Induced by Kainic Acid in Rats. |
Jong Hwan Lee, Yu Mi Lee, Byung Joon Chang, So Jin Park, Ji Yeon Lee, Joung Uk Kim, Seung Woo Ku |
1Department of Anatomy, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of KonKuk, Korea. 2Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ulsan, Seoul, Korea. jukim@amc.seoul.kr |
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Abstract |
BACKGROUND The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the neuroprotective effect of etomidate against kainic acid (KA) induced neurotoxicity in rats by Western immunoblotting for heat shock protein 70 (HSP-70), c-JUN, and by acid-fuchsin histochemistry. METHODS Etomidate (20 mg/kg, i.p.) was administered in sequence, first being just one hour after KA (10 mg/kg, i.p.) injection, then three times one hour intervals.
Neuronal damage in hippocampus was evaluated by using acid-fuchsin stain to detect cell death and HSP-70 and c-JUN induction as an index of cell injury at 3, 6, 24 and 48 h after the administration of KA. RESULTS Acid fuchsin positive neurons were increased in the CA1 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus after KA injection, but were significantly decreased by etomidate injection (P <0.01). Etomidate administration also significantly suppressed the KA-induced induction of c-JUN and HSP-70 in both regions of the rat hippocampus. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that etomidate has a protective effect on hippocampal neurons against KA-induced neurotoxicity. |
Key Words:
c-JUN; etomidate; hippocampus; heat shock protein 70; kainic acid; neurotoxicity |
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