Abstract: Objective To explore the effect of cerebellar fastigial nucleus stimulation (FNS) on the expression of Nestin in adult Wistar rat brain after focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion.MethodsThe animal model of focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion was made by filament occlusion of the right middle cerebral artery. 180 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups: normal control group (NC group), sham operation control group (SC group), ischemia/reperfusion group (I/R group), ischemia/reperfusion treated with sham FNS group (I/RFs group), and ischemia/reperfusion treated with FNS group (I/RF group), each group contain 1 d, 3 d, 7 d, 14 d, 21 d and 28 d six time points (for each point, n=6). Immunohistochemistry method was used to detect the number of Nestin expression positive cells following various time and interference in lateral cerebral ventriculus and hippocampus in adult Wistar rat brain.ResultsAfter focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, the number of Nestin positive cells increased at each time point, reached small peak value in 7th d ( P<0.01). After treated with FNS, the number of Nestin positive cells increased more strikingly at each time point ( P<0.05, P<0.01), reached higher peak value in 7th d ( P<0.01), and maintained at higher level in 14th d. Furthermore, the shape of Nestin positive cells changed significantly.ConclusionFNS can increase the number of Nestin positive cells in some brain regions after focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion.

Key words: cerebellar fastigial nucleus stimulation, focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, Nestin, rat