Effect of Ganoderma lucidum spores powder on the expression of IGF-1, NF-κB and apoptosis of nerve cells in the brain from epileptic rat

AIM: To investigate the effect of Ganoderma lucidum spores powder on the expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) and apoptosis of nerve cells in rats with epilepsy established by pentetrazole. METHODS: The sub-eclampsia dosage of pentetrazole (PTZ) was used to make epilepsy model. Ganoderma lucidum spores powder group was given from stomach. The enduring time and latent period were recorded. The immune reactivity of IGF-1, NF-κB/P65 and apoptosis of nerve cells were measured with immunohistochemical staining and TUNEL method. RESULTS: In high power sight (×400), there were much more apoptosis cells in hippocampus and brain cortex of model group (18.80±2.13, 16.87±2.00) than those in control group (0.97±0.52, 0.58±0.25). The expressions of IGF-1, NF-κB in model group were higher than those in control group. Compared with model group, the latent period of Ganoderma lucidum spores powder group at the 17th, 21th, 25th days were longer (P<0.05, P<0.05, P<0.01, respectively).There were less apoptosis cells in hippocampus and brain cortex of Ganoderma lucidum spores powder group (12.30±2.46, 10.48±1.33) than those in model group. The expression of NF-κB/P65 in Ganoderma lucidum spores powder group was lower than that in model group, but the immune reactivity of IGF-1 increased more distinctly in Ganoderma lucidum spores powder group than that in model group. CONCLUSION: IGF-1, NF-κB and apoptosis of nerve cells may have play a role in occurrence and development of PTZ-induced epilepsy. Ganoderma lucidum spores powder can suppress expression of NF-κB strongly, and facilitate the immune reactivity of IGF-1, which may be one of the mechanisms by which Ganoderma lucidum spores powder restrains the apoptosis of nerve cells caused by epilepsy to prevent the damages of nerve cells.