ABSTRACT
Objective To study the effect of anti-epileptic,nootropic drugs on the expression of NCAM and ERK2 in the hippocampus changes on the epileptic rats with cognitive dysfunction.Methods A total of 120Wistar rats were used.20 controls and 100 in which epilepticus with cognitive dysfunction were randomly assigned to 5 groups (n =20/group) that received daily treatments for 30 days with either (1) saline (epilepsy),(2) carbamazine (traditional anti-epileptic),(3) oxcarbazine (new anti-epileptic),(4) aniracetam (brain protective),or (5) donepezil (nootopic).Spatial learning and memory were assessed with a Morris Water Maze (MWM).Hippocampus tissue was assessed for NCAM1 and ERK-2 mRNAs by RT-PCR and proteins by immunochemistry.Results The mean escape latency of the place navigation test:EP group ((67.14 ± 7.37)s)was all higher than NS group (35.78 ± 4.84 s)and there was statistical significance (P ＜ 0.01),carbamazepine group ((81.23 ± 9.46)s) ＞ EP group((67.14 ±7.37)s) ＞ donepezi group((53.75 ±6.74) s) (P＜0.01).Immunohistochemical and RT-PCR result:carbamazepine ＜ oxcarbazepine ＜ epilepsy ＜ aniracetam ＜ donepezi group.Compared with control group,donepezil group ＞ control group (P ＜ 0.01),aniracetam group ＞ control group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion ERK-2 expression is decreased and NCAM 1 expression is increased in the hippocampus in the epileptic rats.Thus,both are involved in cognitive dysfunction.Carbamazepine aggravates cognitive dysfunction,whereas donepezil improves cognitive dysfunction associated with epilepsy.