Expression of bax and bcl-2 after Acute Compression Injury to Rat Spinal Cord

Objective: We determined the expression of apoptosic correlative genes after spinal cord compression injury, to study the molecular mechanism of neuronal apoptosis. Methods: Following a controlled, moderate degree compression injury to the lower thoracic spinal cord (T 8、9 ), rats were killed at 30min,2,4,8,24,48 or 72 hours after injury (n=6 per group). Three segments of every spinal cord were cut for morphological studies, including hematoxylin and eosin staining, Nissl staining, immunohistochemical staining and in situ hybridization methods. Results: Proteins Bax expressed at 4h after spinal cord injury. But Bcl 2 immunoreactivity was present in the lesion region with low expression, and bcl 2 mRNA without expression. Conclusion: There exist high expression of apoptosic correlative genes bax after spinal cord injury, it may play an important role in induction of neuronal cells to apoptosis.