Influence of Surgical Trauma in the Nasal Cavity on the Expression of p53 Protein in the Hippocampus of Rats

The aim of the study was to determine the role of the stress effect of septoplasty modeling on p53 protein expression in the hippocampus of rats under conditions of sensory olfactory deprivation. Simulation of septoplasty was carried out on 30 sexually mature male rats. A quantitative assessment of the apoptosis of neurons in the pyramidal layer of the hippocampus in the subfields CA1, CA2, CA3, and dentate gyrus (DG) on days 2, 4, and 6 after surgery was carried out. Histological sections were stained by the immunohistochemical method with antibodies to the p53 protein. An increase in the number of p53-positive neurons was noted in all subfields; the maximum increase in the number of apoptotic neurons was noted on day 4 after surgery. The stress effect of modeling septoplasty in rats, accompanied by sensory deprivation of the peripheral part of the olfactory analyzer, provoked the expression of p53 and the initiation of apoptosis mechanisms in various subfields of the hippocampus.