EFFECT OF Ghrelin ON TH,Bcl-2 AND Bax mRNA EXPRESSION OF THE SUBSTANTIA NIGRA IN MPTP-INDUCED MOUSE MODEL OF PARKINSON DISEASE

Objective To investigate the effect of Ghrlein on tyrosine hydroxylase(TH),Bcl-2 and Bax mRNA expression of the subatantia nigra in 1-methy-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine(MPTP)-induced mouse model of Parkinson disease. Methods Eighteen healthy male C57BL/6 mice were divided into three groups at random:Control,MPTP and Ghrelin+MPTP.The mice in MPTP group were injected with MPTP(30 mg/kg,i.p.),once daily for five days,with Ghrelin(i.c.v.),2 h before the injection of MPTP,once daily for eight days.As for the Control group,MPTP and ghrelin were replaced by normal saline.The total mRNA of the substantia nigra(SN) was collected to detect the mRNA expression of TH,Bcl-2 and Bax by semi-quantitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Results Compared with the control group,MPTP induced a reduction of TH mRNA expression(P0.01).Pretreated with ghrelin showed an increase of TH mRNA expression compared with MPTP group(P0.01).MPTP also decreased the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax to 0.47±0.06(P0.01).And ghrelin could reverse the reduction induced by MPTP(P0.01). Conclusion Ghrelin could inhibit the reduction of TH mRNA expression induced by MPTP.The anti-apoptotic pathway might be the mechanism of this neuroprotective effect.