title: Altered brain lipid composition in cyclooxygenase-2 knockout mouse.
abstract: Cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 plays an important role in brain arachidonic acid (20:4n-6) metabolism, and its expression is upregulated in animal models of neuroinflammation and excitotoxicity. Our hypothesis was that brain lipid composition would be altered in COX-2 knockout (COX-2(-/-)) compared with wild-type (COX-2(+/+)) mice, reflecting the important role of COX-2 in brain lipid metabolism. Concentrations of different lipids were measured in high-energy microwaved brain from COX-2(-/-) and COX-2(+/+) mice. Compared with the COX-2(+/+) mouse brain, the brain of the COX-2(-/-) mouse had a statistically significant 15% increase in phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) and significant 37, 27, and 32% reductions in triacylglycerol and cholesterol concentrations and in the cholesterol-to-phospholipid ratio, respectively. The normalized concentration of palmitic acid (16:0) was increased in PtdSer, as was the brain concentration of unesterified arachidic acid (20:0). A lifetime absence of COX-2 produces multiple changes in brain lipid composition. These changes may be related to reported changes in fatty acid kinetics and in resistance to neuroinflammation and excitotoxicity in the COX-2(-/-) mouse.
authors.affiliation: Brain Physiology and Metabolism Section, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
authors.forename: Kaizong
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Langenbach
authors.forename: Stanley I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Rapoport
authors.forename: Mireille
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Basselin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001923:Brain Chemistry; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000502:physiology; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000378:metabolism; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D008055:Lipids / Q000032:analysis*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D008055:Lipids; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2