ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effects of electrical stimulation of olfactory bulb (OB)on proliferation,migration to OB of neural precursor cells (NPC) in the subventricular zone,and preliminary explore its related mechanism.Methods Eighty adult female Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal control group,sham stimulation group and stimulation groups of 1 d,3 d,1 week,2 weeks,3 weeks and 4 weeks (n=10).Rats in the later six groups were performed OB electrical stimulation.Five of these rats in each group were injected intraperitoneally with 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (Brdu) to mark new-bom cells and immunohistochemical staining was employed to observe the proliferation of NPCs in SVZ; the other 5 were sacrificed at corresponding time to detect the mRNA expression ofprokineticin 2 (prk2) in OB.Another 15 rats were randomly divided into normal control group Ⅰ,sham stimulation group Ⅰ and stimulation group Ⅰ (n=5); four weeks after Brdu was injected,the animals were sacrificed and immumohistochemical staining was used to investigate the number of Brdu-positive cells in OB.Results The number of Brdu-positive cells in SVZ was significantly different among the eight group (F=51.475,P=0.000); as compared with those in the normal control group and sham stimulation group,the Brdu-positive cells were significantly increased in stimulation groups of 1 d,3 d,1 week and 2 weeks (P＜0.05).The mRNA expression ofprk 2 in OB was significantly different among the eight group (F=154.067,P=0.000); as compared with those in the normal control group and sham stimulation group,the Brdu-positive cells were significantly increased in all the stimulation groups (F=36.472,P=0.000).Four weeks after injection of Brdu,the Brdu-positive cells in OB of the stimulation group Ⅰ significantly increased as compared with that in the normal control group Ⅰ and sham stimulation group Ⅰ (P＜0.05).Conclusion Electrical stimulation of OB promotes proliferation,migration of NPCs in SVZ,which may be related to elevated expression of Prk2.