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| 2002, Volume 7, Number 8, Pages 845-850 |
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| Original Research Article |
| Chronic lithium downregulates cyclooxygenase-2 activity and prostaglandin E2 concentration in rat brain |
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| F Bosettia, J Rintalaa, R Seemann, T A Rosenberger, M A Contreras, S I Rapoport and M C Chang |
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Brain Physiology and Metabolism Section, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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Correspondence to: F Bosetti, PhD, Brain Physiology and Metabolism Section, NIA, NIH, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bldg 10, Rm 6N202, Bethesda, MD 20892 USA. E-mail: frances@mail.nih.gov | |
aThese authors contributed equally to this work |
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| Abstract |
| Rats treated with lithium chloride for 6 weeks have been reported to demonstrate reduced turnover of arachidonic acid (AA) in brain phospholipids, and decreases in mRNA and protein levels, and enzyme activity, of AA-selective cytosolic phospholipase A2(cPLA2). We now report that chronic lithium administration to rats significantly reduced the brain protein level and enzyme activity of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), without affecting COX-2 mRNA. Lithium also reduced the brain concentration of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), a bioactive product of AA formed via the COX reaction. COX-1 and the Ca2+-independent iPLA2 (type VI) were unaffected by lithium. These and prior results indicate that lithium targets a part of the AA cascade that involves cPLA2 and COX-2. This effect may contribute to lithium's therapeutic action in bipolar disorder. Molecular Psychiatry (2002) 7, 845-850. doi:10.1038/sj.mp.4001111 |
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| Keywords |
| lithium; arachidonic acid; cyclooxygenase; phospholipase A2; prostaglandin; brain; rat; chronic; bipolar disorder |
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| Received 3 December 2001; revised 17 January 2002; accepted 7 February 2002 |
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| 2002, Volume 7, Number 8, Pages 845-850 |
| Table of contents Previous Abstract Next Full text PDF |
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