title: Conditioning training and retrieval increase phospholipase A(2) activity in the cerebral cortex of rats.
abstract: In rats, phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) activity was found to be increased in the hippocampus immediately after training and retrieval of a contextual fear conditioning paradigm (step-down inhibitory avoidance [IA] task). In the present study we investigated whether PLA(2) is also activated in the cerebral cortex of rats in association with contextual fear learning and retrieval. We observed that IA training induces a rapid (immediately after training) and long-lasting (3 h after training) activation of PLA(2) in both frontal and parietal cortices. However, immediately after retrieval (measured 24 h after training), PLA(2) activity was increased just in the parietal cortex. These findings suggest that PLA(2) activity is differentially required in the frontal and parietal cortices for the mechanisms of contextual learning and retrieval. Because reduced brain PLA(2) activity has been reported in Alzheimer disease, our results suggest that stimulation of PLA(2) activity may offer new treatment strategies for this disease.
authors.affiliation: Department and Institute of Psychiatry, University of São Paulo, Rua Doutor Ovídio Pires de Campos, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. schaffer@usp.br
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Schaeffer
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zorrón Pu
authors.forename: D A M
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Gagliotti
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Gattaz
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000201:enzymology*; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D004597:Electroshock / Q000379:methods; D004789:Enzyme Activation / Q000502:physiology; D005239:Fear; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology*; D054467:Phospholipases A2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D054467:Phospholipases A2