3.6. Fer-1 attenuates seizure-induced hippocampal damage in FeCl3-induced PTE
Activation of ferroptosis process always triggers cell death (Ueda et al., 2003). Thus, in our current work, Nissl staining was performed to evaluate the effect of Fer-1 on neuron death following PTE. It was evident that PTE in the acute stage (day 3 after FeCl3injection) induced enormous neuron death, especially in hippocampal DG region and treatment with Fer-1 obviously improved cell viability (Figure 7A, Figure 7B, Figure 7C and Figure 7D). Interestingly, in the chronic stage of PTE (day 34 after FeCl3 injection), Nissl staining results demonstrated that Fer-1 prevented neuron death in hippocampal CA1 subregion of mice subjected to PTE. There was no significant difference in the number of surviving neurons between each group in CA3 and DG regions (Figure 7E, Figure 7F, Figure 7G and Figure 7H). Taken together, these findings implicate that Fer-1 ameliorates hippocampal neuron death in FeCl3-induced PTE.