Cyclooxygenase-2 in the hippocampus is up-regulated in Alzheimer's disease but not in variant Alzheimer's disease with cotton wool plaques in humans.
We examined neuronal expression of cyclooxygenase-2, a pro-inflammatory protein, and neuron densities in the CA1-4 of the hippocampus in three cases of Alzheimer's disease with cotton wool plaques (CWP-AD), 17 cases of typical Alzheimer's disease without CWPs (tAD), and 26 normal controls. Cyclooxygenase-2 expression was significantly increased in all of the CA1-4 in tAD, but not in any subdivision in CWP-AD, compared with controls. Cyclooxygenase-2 expression in tAD was also significantly up-regulated compared with that in CWP-AD in all subdivisions. Furthermore, neuron density in the hippocampus was not significantly reduced in CWP-AD cases compared with controls despite remarkable intra- and extraneuronal Abeta deposition. These findings suggest that unknown factors besides Abeta deposition are necessary for the cyclooxygenase-2 up-regulation and neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's disease.
Yokota
Osamu
O
Department of Neuropsychiatry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry, Okayama 700-8558, Japan. oyokota1@yahoo.co.jp
Terada
Seishi
S
Ishizu
Hideki
H
Ishihara
Takeshi
T
Ujike
Hiroshi
H
Nakashima
Hanae
H
Nakashima
Yoshihiko
Y
Kugo
Aki
A
Checler
Frédéric
F
Kuroda
Shigetoshi
S
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002452:Cell Count; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008875:Middle Aged; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000201:enzymology; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000473:pathology; D015854:Up-Regulation / Q000235:genetics*
D007527:Isoenzymes; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C496540:PTGS2 protein, human; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases