Objective: To investigate the apoptosis rules of the astrocytes and oligodendrocytes induced by Ca(2+) reperfusion.
Methods: The apoptosis of purified cultured astrocytes and oligodendrocytes induced by Ca(2+) reperfusion and the relationship between the development of the cell apoptosis and post-reperfusion time was observed.
Results: Both the astrocytes and oligodendrocytes were obviously in a time-dependent fashion, and the apoptosis ratios of the oligodendrocytes (39.73%+/-4.16%) were higher than the astrocytes (19.64%+/-4.67%) 24 hours after Ca(2+) reperfusion. The TUNEL positive cells were 13.6+/-1.82 and 21.4+/-1.95 at every visual field of astrocytes and oligodendrocytes respectively 24 hours after Ca(2+) reperfusion.
Conclusions: The astrocytes and oligodendrocytes are similar wi th the development rules on apoptosis and have different susceptiveness to the situation.