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Effect of zinc on the corticosterone-induced injury of primary cultured rat hippocampal neurons

Geng Zhanhui, Cheng Yiyong, Ma Xiuling, Li Shutian

Institute of Health and Environmental Medicine,Academy of Military Medical Sciences.Tianjin 300050

Abstract

The effect of zinc on the damage of primary cultured hippocampal neurons induced by corticosterone (CORT) was studied. Neuronal injury and expression of NMDA receptor subunits (NR1, NR2A, NR2B) mRNA were detected by using in situ staining and RT-PCR, respectively. Neurons treated with 5 #mu#mol/L CORT for 24 h showed decreasd survival rates and increased apoptotic rates compared with the controls; co-application of CORT and 10 or 100 #mu#mol/L Zn~(2+) attenuated apoptotic rates while 250 #mu#mol/L Zn~(2+) worsened CORT-induced neuronal injury. Expression of NR1, NR2B mRNA in neurons treated by 5 #mu#mol/L CORT for 24 h was significantly increased, while those concurrently added with 10 or 100 #mu#mol/L Zn~(2+) showed no changes. No statistic difference in NR2A mRNA was obtained under any treatment. These results suggest that zinc can bilaterally regulate neuronal injuries induced by CORT, among while NMDA receptors probably play an important role.

Key words: Zinc;Corticosterone;Hippocampal neuron;NMDA receptor

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Citing This Article：

Geng Zhanhui, Cheng Yiyong, Ma Xiuling, Li Shutian. Effect of zinc on the corticosterone-induced injury of primary cultured rat hippocampal neurons. Acta Physiol Sin 2003; 55 (6): (in Chinese with English abstract).