Expression of the serum/glucocorticoid regulated kinase-1 (sgk-1) gene has been reported to be induced by various stress stimuli such as hyper- or hypo-osmotic stress, UV irradiation, and heat shock stress; however, its association with global ischemia in the brain has not been studied. Using high-density oligonucleotide array analysis, we found that the sgk-1 gene was one of the genes showing alteration of expression in the rat hippocampus during 1-4 h of reperfusion after 10 min of transient global cerebral ischemia. Using TaqMan RT-PCR analysis, we confirmed an increased level of sgk-1 gene expression with statistical significance in the rat hippocampus at 2 h of reperfusion after 10 min of transient global cerebral ischemia. Using in situ hybridization (ISH) analysis, the increased level of sgk-1 gene expression was found to localize in pyramidal cells of CA2 and CA3 regions of the hippocampus after 2 h of reperfusion. These results provide an insight into the alterations of sgk-1 gene expression in the rat hippocampus after transient global cerebral ischemia.