Striatal and nigral COX-2 expression after chronic typical and atypical neuroleptic administration in rats.
Haloperidol, but not clozapine, induces dopaminergic nigrostriatal degeneration. However, the mechanisms by which haloperidol causes neurotoxicity are not fully understood. An increase in cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression has been observed correlated with nigrostriatal degeneration. We investigated the modifications of striatal and nigral COX-2 expression induced by chronic haloperidol and clozapine administration. Rats were treated for 21 days with: haloperidol (1 mg/kg), clozapine (1 mg/kg) or saline. No significant differences were observed in striatal and nigral COX-2 expression between haloperidol and clozapine-treated animals. This observation might suggest that nigral COX-2 expression is not the underlying mechanisms involved in haloperidol-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration.
Marin
C
C
Laboratori de Neurologia Experimental, Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. cmarin@clinic.ub.es
Saldaña
M
M
Roca-Ferrer
J
J
Bonastre
M
M
Aguilar
E
E
Mullol
J
J
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2