Effect of Ligustrazine on Apoptosis of Neurons and Expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax Genes after Severe Brain Injury in Rats

Objectives To investigate the effect of Ligustrazine(LZ) on the apoptosis of neurons, the expression of Bcl-2 and Bax genes and cerebral neuroprotection after the severe brain injury(SBI) in rats.Methods SBI model was established according to Feeney's method.One hundred-twenty rats were divided into 3 groups, i.e.treatment group, control group and sham injury group.The rats were treatment by imtraperitoneal injection of LZ in the treatment group.The neuronal apoptosis and expressions of Bcl-2 and Bax in the brain tissue were determined respectively by TUNEL and immunohistochemical technique in all the rats.Results The rates of TUNEL positive cells and the positive expression of Bcl-2 and Bax were significantly higher in both the treatment and control groups than those in the sham injury group(P0.05).The rates of TUNEL positive cells and the positive expressions of Bax were significantly lower and the rates of the positive expression of Bcl-2 was significantly higher in the treatment group than that in the control group 72 and 68 hours after SBI(P0.05).The neurological deficit score was significantly lower in the treatment group than that in the control group(P0.05).Conclusions The neuronal apoptosis can be inhibited by LZ which can cause down-regulation of Bax expression and up-regulation of Bcl-2 in the rats with SBI.