Objective To study any protection against hippocampal neuron damage induced by epilepsy (SE) provided by transcutaneous stimulation (TNS) of the trigeminal nerve and to document any effect of such stimulation on the expression of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) 65/67.Methods Pilocarpine injection was used to induce epilepsy in healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats which were then randomly divided into a treatment group and a model group.Rats which had not received the pilocarpine injection served as normal controls.In the treatment group the rats were given electrostimulation for one month after the first spontaneous seizure following the injection of pilocarpine.In the model group they were given sham TNS for one month.After the month of stimula-tion,immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of GAD65/67 in the hippocampus.Terminal deoxy-nucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assays and Nissl staining were applied to deter-mine apoptosis and neuron loss in the hippocampus.Results Significantly less apoptosis was observed in the treatment group than in model group at 24 h,48 h and 72 h post-injection.Compared to the model group,average GAD65/67 expression had increased significantly in the treatment group at 24 h,72 h,1 week,2 weeks and 4 weeks post-stimulation.GAD65 expression reached its peak from 72 h to 1 week post-stimulation,then decreased to the level of the control group by 4 weeks post-stimulation.The expression of GAD67 remained elevated at all the time points employed.Conclusions TNS can significantly protect hippocampal neurons from damage in epilepsy,at least in rats.The underlying anti-epileptic and neuroprotective mechanisms may involve increased inhibitory transmission induced by the stimulation.

Objective:To investigate the effect of long-term application of prostaglandin analog drops on bulbar conjunctival thickness in rabbits.Methods:Twenty-four healthy New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into latanoprost group, carteolol group and blank control group using the random number table method, with 8 rabbits in each group.The left eyes of rabbits were taken as experimental eyes.The rabbits in the latanoprost group and carteolol group were given latanoprost eye drops or carteolol eye drops once a day for 2 months according to grouping.The bulbar conjunctival thickness of left eyes of the latanoprost group and carteolol group were measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT) at baseline and two months after administration, respectively.The conjunctival tissue of the three groups were extracted to investigate the protein and mRNA expression level of matrix metalloproteinases-1 (MMP-1) and MMP-3 by Western blot and real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The study protocol was approved by an Ethics Committee of Putuo Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (No.2017-0014). The use and care of the experimental animals complied with the ARVO Statement.Results:In the latanoprost group, the conjunctival thickness was significantly reduced from baseline (178.88±5.23)μm to (124.19±11.29)μm at 2 months after administration ( P<0.01). In the carteolol group, there existed no significant difference in the conjunctival thickness between baseline (184.94±11.85)μm and (183.31±8.71)μm at 2 months after administration ( P>0.05). The conjunctival thickness at 2 months after administration of the latanoprost group was significantly thinner than that of the carteolol group ( P<0.01). The protein and mRNA expression levels of MMP-1 and MMP-3 in conjunctival tissue of the latanoprost group were significantly higher than those of the blank control group and carteolol group (all at P<0.01). Conclusions:The long-term topical use of prostaglandin analog drops can significantly reduce the bulbar conjunctival thickness in rabbits.The mechanism may be related to the elevated expression levels of MMP-1 and MMP-3 in the bulbar conjunctival tissue.