Effect Of Nicardipine On Apoptosis After Transient Forebrain Ischemia In Gerbils

Objective:To explore the neuronal apoptosis and effect of nicardipine after transient forebrain ischemia in gerbils.Methods Transient forebrain ischemia was induced by 15 minutes bilateral carotid occusion.All gerbils were randomly divided into sham operation group,ischemia-reperfiision group ,nicardipine group before ischemia, nicardipine group after ischemia,.Fragmented DNA was identified by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP-biotin nick-labeling(TUNEL). The numbers of normal pyramidal cells in the hippocampus CA1 field in 1mm length were counted with hematoxylin and eosin.Results:(l)Compared with sham operation,2 to 4 days after ischemia-reperfusion ,the normal pyramidal cells in the hippocampus CA1 field were reduced in ischemia-reperfusion group(P<0.01).(2) 2 to 4 days after ishemia-reperfusion , the normal pyramidal cells in the hippocampus CA1 field in nicardipine group were increased than those in ischemia-reperfusion group(P<0.01).(3)Nicardipine significantly decreased the number of apoptotic cells in the hippocampus CA1 field and cerebral cortex after ishemia-reperfusion (p<0.01).Concliisions: (1) Transient forebrain ischemia markedly produced apoptotic cell in cerebral cortex and hippocampus CA1 pyramidal neurons. (2) Nicardipine has inhibitory effect on ischemia-induced apoptosis of hippocampus and cerebral cortex.