Abstract: Objective To investigate the value of ubiquitin(Ub) and ubiquitin-activating enzyme1(UbE1) for the appraisement of post traumatic epilepsy(PTE).Methods Fifteen specimens from human epileptic temporal cortex originating from PTE were collected as the PTE group.Fifteen specimens from non-PTE were collected as the non-PTE group.Meanwhile,15 normal cerebral cortex specimens from people dead from acute traffic accident were collected as the control groups.Observe morphology changes of each group with HE,then with immunohistochemistry of Ub and UbE1.Results Compared to the control group,mor-phology changes of neuron quantity reduction,neuron denaturation and so on were observed both in the PTE group and the non-PTE group under HE,especially in the PTE group.Ub and UbE1 mainly expressed in the nucleus and cytoplasm of the neurons in epilepsy spot without extracellular expression.The expres-sion of Ub and UbE1 is PTE group > non-PTE group > control group(P<0.05).Conclusion The neuron denaturation are one of the main pathology changes of epilepsy,and it is more obvious in the PTE group.Immunohistochemistry of Ub and UbE1 may be more helpful to distinguish PTE and non-PTE than HE staining.

Key words: forensic pathology, epilepsy, post-traumatic, ubiquitin, ubiquitin-activating enzymes