Expression of IL-33 and cleaved-caspase-3 in the hippocampus of rats with carotid artery hypoperfusion

Meng Delong; Jia Kejuan; Li Yan; Zhang Bin

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1009-6574.2019.04.018

Abstract：Objectives? To investigate the possible role of interleukin-33 (IL-33) in cognitive impairment caused by hypoperfusion of the carotid artery. Methods? A total of 36 adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: sham operation (S) group, Lesion 2 weeks (L2w) group, and Lesion 4 weeks (L4w) group. The Morris water maze was used to test the learning and memory ability of each group. The expression of cleaved-caspase-3 in the hippocampus was tested by immunohistochemistry. The expression of IL-33 in the hippocampus was tested by Western-blot method. Results? The differences in the water maze test performance and the expression of cleaved-caspase-3 and IL-33 were statistically significant between the three groups (F=64.201,P＜0.05;F=233.558,P＜0.05;F=51.498,P＜0.05). Compared with the S group (20.32±6.30)s, the escape latency of the L2w group (46.67±9.49) s was significantly prolonged (t=-4.902,P＜ 0.05); compared with the L2w group, the escape latency of the L4w group (81.51±14.67)s was significantly prolonged (t=-6.397,P＜0.05). Compared with the S group (1.31±1.19), the expression of cleaved-caspase-3 in the hippocampus in the L2w group (6.56±1.32) was significantly increased (t=-6.328, P＜0.05); compared with the L2w group, the L4w group's (18.78±5.83) expression of cleaved-caspase-3 in the hippocampus was significantly increased (t=-14.733,P＜0.05). Compared with the S group (0.26±0.02), the expression of IL-33 in hippocampus in the L2w group (0.3±0.04) increased, but the results were not statistically significant (t=-1.530,P=0.147); compared with the L2w group, the L4w group's expression of IL-33 in the hippocampus (0.49±0.06) was significantly increased (t=-7.924,P＜0.05). Conclusions? IL-33 may play a role in cognitive impairment caused by hypoperfusion of brain tissue.