Expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 in brain tissue of patients with intractable epilepsy

Objective: To investigate the expression of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in the brain tissue of patients with intractable epilepsy (IE) and to explore its role in the pathogenesis of IE. Material: Patients with IE were collected from the Department of Neurosurgery of several Chinese hospitals between 2002 and 2005. The average age of these 40 patients was 23.65 +/- 10.14 (X +/- SD) years (11 - 58 years), with 19 males and 21 females. In addition to the typical symptoms and distinct EEG features of epilepsy, all recruited patients met the requirements of intractable epilepsy. Methods: Oil the basis of positive results obtained from gene chip analysis, the expression of MCP-1 was first investigated in the brain tissue of IE patients (40 cases) using Western Blotting and immunohistochemistry and then compared with the controls. Results: Gene chip scanning demonstrated that expression of MCP-1 mRNA was upregulated in the brain tissue of patients with IE. Western Blotting and immunohistochemical experiments further confirmed that, as compared with that in the control group, expression of MCP-1 protein was significantly increased in the I E patients (p < 0.05). Conclusion: These results suggest that MCP-1 are involved in the pathogenesis of IE.