Objective To investigate the expression of growth-associated protein-43 (GAP-43) in the hippocampus of rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) after status epilepticus induced by electrical stimulation of the amygdala and its significance.Methods Sixty healthy male Wistar rats were divided into blank control, unstimulated, non-seizure, and seizure groups. The blank control group had no implanted electrodes;the unstimulated group had implanted electrodes, but did not undergo electrical stimulation;the seizure group had spontaneous recurrent seizure within 15 and 30 days after electrical stimulation through implanted electrodes;other rats were included in the non-seizure group. The expression of GAP-43 in the hippocampus of rats was evaluated by RT-PCR and immunofluorescence assay at 15 and 30 days after electrical stimulation.Results At 15 days after electrical stimulation, the seizure, non-seizure, and unstimulated groups had significantly higher expression of GAP-43 than the blank control group, and GAP-43 expression decreased significantly from the seizure group to the blank control group (P<0.05). At 30 days after electrical stimulation, the seizure and non-seizure groups still had significantly higher expression of GAP-43 than the blank control group (P<0.05);there was no significant difference in GAP-43 expression between the unstimulated and blank control groups (P>0.05).Conclusions GAP-43 is involved in the damage repair and synaptic plasticity of neurons, which may be the pathological basis of TLE and the important molecular mechanism of synaptic plasticity.