Increase in bax expression and apoptosis are associated in Huntington's disease progression.

Huntington's disease (HD) is a hereditary dominant neurodegenerative disorder and the progression of the disease may be associated with apoptosis and altered expression of apoptotic proteins. The aim of this study was to investigate gene expression of bax and bcl-2 in tissues from R6/1 transgenic (TGN) mice of different ages (3, 6 and 9 months). The mRNA expression was investigated and related to apoptotic cells measured by TUNEL. Results showed a significant and progressive increase in bax levels in the cortex of TGN (from 10 to 33%) when compared to control (CT) (8 to 20%) mice with 3, 6 and 9-month-old. The increase in bax was correlated with the elevation in the number of apoptotic nuclei, especially in the cortex of 6 (10%) and 9 (18%)-month-old mice. Increase in bax expression might be related to an apoptotic induction which contributes to the HD progression.