Effects of Early Intervention on Growth Associated Protein-43 and Neuron Cells Apoptosis in Brain of Neonatal Rats

Objective To explore the effects of early interventions on growth associated protein-43(GAP-43) and neuron apoptosis in brain of neonatal rats.Methods According to matched-pairs design,30 rats from the same materal rats were divided into two groups:intervention group and control group randomly.The intervention group received the neonatal handling for 14 d and then were kept in an enriched environment for another 14 d.The expression of GAP-43 and the number of neurons apoptosis were detected by immunohistochemistry and TUNEL staining respectively in forehead cortex and hippocampus of rats.The brain functional outcomes of rats were evaluated by water-maze test.Results In prefrontal cortex and hippocampus,the level of GAP-43 immuno-positive response in intervention group was significantly higher than that of control group(P0.05).While the median of apoptosis positive neurons in intervention group was (0;2.0 cells/HP) significantly lower than that of control group(1.0;6.5 cells /HP)(P0.01).The score of water maze test was higher in intervention group[(5.71±1.73)times]than that in control group[(7.77±1.74)times] (P0.01).Conclusion The up-regulated GAP-43 expression and decreased the sum of neuron apoptosis may be involved in improving development and function of brain by the early intervention mechanism.