Albumin, the most abundant plasma protein, is known to exhibit a neuroprotective effect in animal models of focal and global cerebral ischemia. In the present study, the expression and immunoreactivity of albumin was examined in the hippocampus following 5 min of transient cerebral ischemia in gerbils. Albumin immunoreactivity was observed in microglia of the CA1 hippocampal region 2 days post-ischemic insult, and it was significantly increased at 4 days following ischemia-reperfusion. In addition, at 4 days post-ischemic insult, albumin-immunoreactive microglia were abundant in the stratum pyramidale of the CA1 region. The present results demonstrated that albumin was newly expressed post-injury in microglia in the CA1 region, suggesting ischemia-induced neuronal loss. Albumin expression may therefore be associated with ischemia-induced delayed neuronal death in the CA1 region following transient cerebral ischemia.
Antioxidant-like protein-1 (AOP-1) reduces the intracellular level of reactive oxygen species. In the present study, the age-related change in AOP-1 expression in the hippocampus among young, adult and aged gerbils was compared using western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. The results demonstrated that the protein expression of AOP-1 was gradually and significantly increased in the hippocampus during the normal aging process. In addition, the age-dependent increase in AOP-1 immunoreactivity was also observed in pyramidal neurons of the hippocampus proper; however, in the dentate gyrus, AOP-1 immunoreactivity was not altered during the normal aging process. These results indicated that the expression of AOP-1 is significantly increased in the hippocampus proper, but not in the dentate gyrus, during the normal aging process.
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