title: Astrocytic expression of cannabinoid type 1 receptor in rat and human sclerotic hippocampi.
abstract: Cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1R), which is traditionally located on axon terminals, plays an important role in the pathology of epilepsy and neurodegenerative diseases by modulating synaptic transmission. Using the pilocarpine model of chronic spontaneous recurrent seizures, which mimics the main features of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with hippocampal sclerosis (HS) in humans, we examined the expression of CB1R in hippocampal astrocytes of epileptic rats. Furthermore, we also examined the expression of astrocytic CB1R in the resected hippocampi from patients with medically refractory mesial TLE. Using immunofluorescent double labeling, we found increased expression of astrocytic CB1R in hippocampi of epileptic rats, whereas expression of astrocytic CB1R was not detectable in hippocampi of saline treated animals. Furthermore, CB1R was also found in some astrocytes in sclerotic hippocampi in a subset of patients with intractable mesial TLE. Detection with immune electron microscopy showed that the expression of CB1R was increased in astrocytes of epileptic rats and modest levels of CB1R were also found on the astrocytic membrane of sclerotic hippocampi. These results suggest that increased expression of astrocytic CB1R in sclerotic hippocampi might be involved in the cellular basis of the effects of cannabinoids on epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University Xi'an 710032, China ; Department of Neurology, Lanzhou General Hospital of PLA Lanzhou 730050, China.
authors.forename: Xian-Dong
authors.initials: XD
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University Xi'an 710032, China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University Xi'an 710032, China ; Critical Care Medicine, The Affiliated Guangren Hospital, Medical School of Xi'an Jiaotong University Xi'an 710004, PR China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurosciences, The Fourth Military Medical University Xi'an 710032, China.
authors.forename: Jun-Jun
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University Xi'an 710032, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University Xi'an 710032, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University Xi'an 710032, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University Xi'an 710032, China.
authors.forename: Ge-Min
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University Xi'an 710032, China.
authors.forename: Tang-Peng
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Ou-Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurosciences, The Fourth Military Medical University Xi'an 710032, China.
authors.forename: Ying-Ying
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University Xi'an 710032, China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D003292:Convulsants / Q000633:toxicity; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D016253:Microscopy, Immunoelectron; D010862:Pilocarpine / Q000633:toxicity; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D043884:Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1 / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D012598:Sclerosis / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D012640:Seizures / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003292:Convulsants; D043884:Receptor, Cannabinoid, CB1; D010862:Pilocarpine
keywords: Epilepsy; astrocyte; cannabinoid type 1 receptor; hippocampal sclerosis; immune electron microscopy