Expression of BDNF in Hippocampi Resected from Patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy Associated with Hippocampal Sclerosis

Objective: To study the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor(BDNF) in hippocampi resected from patients with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy(TLE) associated with hippocampal sclerosis and discuss its function in the pathogenesis.Methods: Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) were used to test the expression of BDNF mRNA in the surgically removed hippocampus tissue from 5 patients with intractable TLE associated with hippocampal sclerosis,and the results were compared with the data from 3 patients with intractable TLE without hippocampal sclerosis.Results: Expression of BDNF mRNA were significantly in-creased in hippocampus tissue(P0.01) resected from patients with intractable TLE associated with hippocampal sclerosis compared with that of controls.Conclusions: The results indicate that the expression of BDNF mRNA increases in the hippocampi of patients with in-tractable TLE associated with hippocampal sclerosis,and it may play an important role in the generation and development of hippocam-pal sclerosis and intractable TLE.