Cyclooxygenase-2 immunoreactivity in the human brain following cerebral ischemia.
The prostaglandin synthesizing enzyme cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is up-regulated in the brain of rodents during cerebral ischemia and contributes to ischemic brain injury. This study sought to determine whether COX-2 is also up-regulated in the human brain in the acute stages of cerebral ischemic infarction. Paraffin-embedded sections from patients who died 1-2 days following infarction in the middle cerebral artery territory were processed for COX-2 immunohistochemistry. COX-2 immunoreactivity was observed in infiltrating neutrophils, in vascular cells and in neurons located at the border of the infarct. The data suggest that COX-2 up-regulation is also relevant to cerebral ischemia in humans and raise the possibility that COX-2 reaction products participate in the mechanisms of ischemic injury also in the human brain.
Department of Neurology, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis 55455, USA. iadec001@tc.umn.edu
C
C
Iadecola
C
C
Forster
S
S
Nogawa
H B
HB
Clark
M E
ME
Ross
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply / Q000201:enzymology*; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000201:enzymology*; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000201:enzymology; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D009504:Neutrophils / Q000201:enzymology; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases / Q000378:metabolism*
D007527:Isoenzymes; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C496540:PTGS2 protein, human; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases