EFFECT OF ELECTROACUPUNCTURE ON THE LEVEL OF PREPROENKEPHALIN mRNA IN RAT DURING PENICILLIN-INDUCED EPILEPSY

Abstract

Our previous studies have shown that seizure induced by injecting penicillin (0.24 mg/2 µl) into hippocampus could be inhibited by electroacupuncture (EA) probably via decreasing enkephalin content in hippocampus. To determine whether this change reflected the peptide synthesis, preproenkephalin (PPE) mRNA was detected in hippocampus and some other limbic structures during seizure and after EA treatment by in situ hybridization. Four hours after injecting penicillin into hippocampus, PPE mRNA levels were significantly increased by 10 folds in entorhinal cortex, subiculum, CA1 area of hippocampus, amygdaloid nucleus and piriform cortex, whereas EA treatment apparently attenuated the seizure-induced increase of PPE mRNA in the areas mentioned above. The results indicated that EA may regulate the biosynthesis of PPE in hippocampus during seizure by an alteration in gene transcription.

Keywords

electroacupuncture epilepsy preproenkephalin mRNA in situ hybridization

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