Expression and significance of AQP-4 in hippocampus of brain in epileptic kindled rats

Objective To observe the expression of aquaporin-4(AQP-4) in hippocampus in the epileptic kindled rats,and to explore the relationship between AQP-4 and the epileptic seizure.Methods Twenty six Sprague-Dawley(SD) rats were randomly divided into 2 groups: control group(n=6) and pentylenetetrazol(PTZ) group(n=20).Pentylenetetrazol were intraperitoneal injected constantly at subthreshold dosages(35 mg/kg) for 28 days in PTZ group.Then based on the rate of the kindled,the PTZ group were divided into kindled group and non-kindled group.Semi-quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) was used to assess AQP-4 mRNA expression in each group.Results There were 50% rats fully kindled.RT-PCR results showed that AQP-4mRNA expression significantly increased in kindled group(0.85±0.11)than in non-kindled group(0.38±0.08) and control group(0.33±0.08)(P0.05),while there was no significantly difference between in non-kindled group and in normal group(P0.05).Conclusion AQP4 may adjust the excitability of neurocyte and that maybe involved in epilepsy.