Cellular apoptosis and Caspase-1 and Caspase-3 expressions following rat spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury

Objective To observe the neural cell apoptosis and the changes of Caspase-1 and Caspase-3 expressions after spinal cord ischemia/reperfusion injury.Method The spinal ischemia-reperfusion lesions models of healthy adult Wistar rats(48)were created by using of Naslund abdominal aorta occlusion.The animals were divided into normal group(n=6),sham operation group(n=6)and injuried group(n=36).The apoptosis of neural cells,the expressions of Caspase-1 and Caspase-3 were studied by TUNEL and immunochemistry methods respectively.Results Caspase-1 positive cells were significantly increased at 12h after injury,and reached a peak at 1 d after injury in injuried area and surrounding region.Caspase-3 positive cells were significantly indreased at 12 hours after injury,then reached a peak at 2 days after injury.TUNEL-positive cells were also significantly at 12 hours after spinal cord injury,and peaked at 2 d after injury.Caspase-1,Caspase-3 and TUNEL positive cells expression were rare in control and sham group.Conclusion Caspase-1 and Caspase-3 were involved in the mechanism of spinal cord ischemia-reperfusion injury.