The Role of NF mRNA and Calpain in NF Reduction of Acrylamide Neuropathy

The purpose of this study was to study the role of neurofilament (NF) mRNA and calpain in NF reduction of acrylamide (ACR) neuropathy. Male Wistar adult rats were injected i.p. every other day with ACR (20 mg/kg·bW or 40 mg/kg·bW) for 8 weeks. NF mRNA expression was detected using RT-PCR and the calpain concentration was determined using western blot analysis. The NF mRNA expression significantly decreased while the level of m-calpain and μ-calpain significantly increased in two ACR-treated rats groups regardless of the ACR dose. The light NF (NF-L) protein expression was significantly correlated with NF-L mRNA expression. Combined with previous data, the concentrations of three NF subunits were negatively correlated with the calpain levels. These findings suggest that NF-L mRNA and calpain mediated the reduction in NF of ACR neuropathy.