Objective        To determine the expression pattern of fascin-1 in the temporal lobe cortex and hippocampus of rat epilepsy model

and to investigate the role of its expression in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE).       Methods        A total of 56 male SD rats were randomly divided into control group (n=5)

experimental group (n=35)

intervention group (exogenous fascin-1 of 0.05 μg/kg was given by intra-peritone

al injection for 5 consecutive days

n=8) and epilepsy model group (n=8). The rats of 4 later groups were injected intra-peritoneally with pilocarpine to establish TLE model. The rats of intervention group were observed for their behavior changes and evaluated by Racine’s scoring system. The rats of control and experimental group were sacrificed at different time points

including 6

24 and 72 h

1 and 2 weeks

and 1 and 2 months after kindling. Immunochemical assay

Western blotting and immunofluorescence assay were used to assess the expression and location of fascin-1 in the cortex and hippocampus.       Results       The latent period and the time required to reach 4/5 level was prolonger in the intervention group than model group (

P

0.05)

but there was no significance in attack degree between the 2 groups. In the hippocampus and adjacent cortex in epileptic rats

fascin-1 expression was significantly decreased at all time points after kindling when compared with the controls (

P

0.05

but not at the time point of 6 h in the cortex). Immnofluorescence assay showed fascin-1 was mainly expressed in the neurons but not in the astrocytes.        Conclusion        The expression pattern of fascin-1 is down-regulated in the TLE rat model

and epilepsy seizures are delayed after giving exogenous fascin-1 peptides

indicating that decreased expression of fascin-1 might be involved in the pathogenesis of TLE.