title: Secretory PLA2-IIA: a new inflammatory factor for Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: Secretory phospholipase A2-IIA (sPLA2-IIA) is an inflammatory protein known to play a role in the pathogenesis of many inflammatory diseases. Although this enzyme has also been implicated in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, there has not been a direct demonstration of its expression in diseased human brain. In this study, we show that sPLA2-IIA mRNA is up-regulated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brains as compared to non-demented elderly brains (ND). We also report a higher percentage of sPLA2-IIA-immunoreactive astrocytes present in AD hippocampus and inferior temporal gyrus (ITG). In ITG, the majority of sPLA2-IIA-positive astrocytes were associated with amyloid beta (Abeta)-containing plaques. Studies with human astrocytes in culture demonstrated the ability of oligomeric Abeta1-42 and interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) to induce sPLA2-IIA mRNA expression, indicating that this gene is among those induced by inflammatory cytokines. Since exogenous sPLA2-IIA has been shown to cause neuronal injury, understanding the mechanism(s) and physiological consequences of sPLA2-IIA upregulation in AD brain may facilitate the development of novel therapeutic strategies to inhibit the inflammatory responses and to retard the progression of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuroinflammation, Sun Health Research Institute, Sun City, AZ 85372, USA. guna.sherlin@sunhealth.org
authors.forename: Guna S D
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Moses
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Jensen
authors.forename: Lih-Fen
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Lue
authors.forename: Douglas G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: Albert Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Simonyi
authors.forename: Grace Y
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Sun