Effect of parecoxib on hippocampal nerve cell apoptosis and expressions of B ceil lymphoma/lewkmia-2, Bcl-2 associated X protein and caspase-3 in epilepsy rats

Objective To research the effect ofparecoxib on hippocampal nerve cell apoptosis and expressions of B cell lymphoma/lewkmia-2 (Bcl-2),Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax) and caspase-3 of epilepsy rats.Methods Thirty SD male rats were randomly divided into three groups (n=10):control group,parecoxib treatment group and epilepsy group.The rats in the parecoxib treatment group and epilepsy group were injected with 4 mg/kg of parecoxib and same volume of saline,respectively,and 3 d after that,they both were injected intraperitoneally with 3 mmol/kg of lithium chloride,and then,20 h after that,they were injected intraperitoneally with 30 mg/kg ofhydrochloride pilocarpine; while rats in the control group were only injected intraperitoneally with the same volume of saline.The behavior changes of rats in the three groups were observed.After 7 d,terminal-deoxynucleoitidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL) was used to evaluate the neuronal apoptosis and Western blotting was employed to evaluate the expressions of Bcl-2,Bax and caspase-3 in the hippocarnpus of all groups.Results All epilepsy rats were very irritable; spontaneous seizures (SRS) times of precoxib treatment group were significantly reduced as compared with those of epilepsy group (P＜0.05).As compared with those in the control group,the Bcl-2,Bax and caspase-3 expressions and Bcl-2/Bax ratio in the epilepsy group were increased with statistically significant differences (P＜0.05); As compared with those in the epilepsy group,the Bcl-2,Bax and caspase-3 expressions and Bcl-2/Bax ratio in the precoxib treatment group were decreased with statistically significant differences (P＜0.05).As compared with that in the control group,the number of TUNEL positive cells in hippocampus of rats in the precoxib treatment group and epilepsy group were significantly increased (P＜0.05); as compared with that in the epilepsy group,the number of TUNEL positive cells in the hippocampus of precoxib treatment group was statistically reduced (P＜0.05).Conclusion Parecoxib can reduce the apoptosis of hippocampus neurons through inhibiting the protein expressions of Bax and caspase-3 to affect the Bcl-2 protein expression,whose mechanism may be related to the pathways of Bcl-2/Bax and Caspase-3 proteins. Key words: Parecoxib;  Epilepsy;  B cell lymphoma/lewkmia-2;  Bcl-2 associated X protein; Caspase-3