Phosphorylation of p38ª²MAPK in rabbit hippocampus during cerebral vasospasm following experimental subarachnoid hemorrhage

    QIN Huaiª²Zhou1£¬GAO Guoª²Dong1, WU Shengª²Xi2, ZHAO Zhenª²Wei1, QU Youª²Zhi1, ZHAO Jiª²Pei1

    1Department of Neurosurgery, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University£¬Xi¬ðan 710038£¬2 Department of Anatomy, School of Basic Medicine, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710033, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To observe the temporal changes of p38 MAPK and its phosphorylation status in hippocampus after cerebral vasospasm (CVS) following subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and to investigate the molecular mechanisms of brain injury induced by CVS. METHODS: Western blot was used to detect the changes in the expression p38 MAPK and phosphorylated p38 MAPK (pª²p38 MAPK) protein in rabbit hippocampus during CVS following experimental SAH. RESULTS: The expression level of p38 MAPK protein in hippocampus kept unchanged after SAH. But the expression of pª²p38 MAPK protein increased in hippocampus 1 day after injury, reached the peak at day 4 and remained relatively high level at day 7, which was significantly higher than those in the normal control group (P<0ª±01). CONCLUSION: The present results suggest that the activation of p38 MAPK signal pathway may closely related to the CVSª²induced hippocampus injury following SAH. ......