The Effect of Aluminum on the Apoptosis of Hippocampus Cells and the Expression of the Bcl-2 and Bax in Rats

[Objective] To explore the effects of aluminum chloride( AlCl3) on the apoptosis of rat hippocampus cells and the relationship between the apoptosis and the expression of the Bcl-2 as well as Bax. [ Methods] 40 SD rats, adult and healthy, were divided into 4 groups at random:normal saline,2.5 mg/Al3+ kg,5 mg Al3+/kg, 10 mg Al3 + /kg.The rats were given AlCl3 by intraperitoneal injection, for 60days. After treatment, the apoptosis of hippocampus cells was measured by method of TUNEL.The expression of Bcl-2 and Bax in rats' hippocampus was measured by immuno-histochemical method.The results were analyzed by the imaging analyzing system. [Results] The apoptosis index(AI) of hippocampus cells become higher with the increasing of the dose of aluminum. and there is a dose-effect relationship between them.The expression of Bcl-2 significantly decreased,The expression of Bax significantly increased in hippocampus cells and the value of Bcl-2 /Bax decreased significantly, with the increasing of the dose of aluminum and there is a dose-effect relationship between them(P0.05) . AI negatively correlated with the expression of Bcl-2( r=-0.924, P0.01) and the value of Bcl-2/Bax(r = 0.872,P0.01);There was positive correlation between AI and the expression of Bax(r=0.804,P0.01) . [Conclusion] Aluminum may induce apoptosis in rat hippocampus cells through the down-regulation of Bcl-2 ,the up-regulation of Bax expression, and the decrease of Bcl-2 /Bax.