Effects of BDNF pretreatment on apoptosis following focal cerebral ischemia and reperfusion in rats

Objective:To study the effects of different doses of brain-derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) pretreatment on apoptosis following focal cerebral ischemia and reperfu-sion in rats.Methods:The model of middle cerebral artery occlusion(MACO) and reperfusion was set up.BDNF was injected into the lateral ventricle.Neuron apoptosis was identified by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP-biotin nick end labeling(TUNEL).Thirty Wistar male rats were randomly divided into five groups,with six animals in each:sham operation group(group C),ischemia-reperfusion group(I/R),BDNF pretreatment groups:L,M and H group.Except group C,the other group animals were sacrificed at the timepoint of cerebral ischemia 1h and reperfusion 72h and then the brain cortex was takenfor detecting.Results:Compared with I/R group,the index of neuron apoptosis in BDNF pretreatment groups were decreased significantly(P0.01).In all of the BDNF pretreatment groups,the neuron apoptosis index in brain cortex were lowest in group H(P0.01).Conclusion:Different doses of BDNF pretreatment can significantly decrease the number of apoptotic neuronal cells in cerebral cortex,has certain protection against focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.The number of neuron apoptosis decreases with the increase of the dose of BDNF pretreatment.