Expressions of Bcl-2,Bax and Caspase-3 in Human Brain with Temporal Epilepsy

Objective:To explore the relationship between neuronal apoptosis and hippocampus sclerosis of patients with temporal lobe epilepsy. Methods: The brain tissue samples were obtained from 15 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and 5 normal controls during operation. Neuronal apoptosis was detected by TUNEL method,and the expressions of Bcl-2,Bax and Capase-3 were determined by immunohistochemistry. Results: TUNEL positive cells (52.2%)in the epileptic brain were significantly numerous than the normal brain (4.0%)(P0.05). When compared with normal brain,Bcl-2 immunoreactivity was upregulated significantly in the epilepsy group (P0.05). Similarly,caspase-3 expression was significantly up-regulated compared with that in control (P0.05),but Bax immunoreactivity was weakly detected in both the normal and epileptic brain and showed no significant difference between them. Conclusion: Neuronal apoptosis is involved in hippocampus sclerosis of human brain with epilepsy. Apoptosis related proteins such as Bcl-2,Bax and Caspase-3 protein may play a active role in this process.