butaprost and Disease-Models--Animal

The timely resolution of inflammation prevents continued tissue damage after an initial insult. In the brain, the death of activated microglia by apoptosis has been proposed as one mechanism to resolve brain inflammation. How microglial death is regulated after activation is still unclear. We reported that exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interleukin (IL)-13 together initially activates and then kills rat microglia in culture by a mechanism dependent on cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2). We show here that activation of the E prostanoid receptor 2 (EP2, PTGER2) for prostaglandin E2 mediates microglial death induced by LPS/IL-13, and that EP2 activation by agonist alone kills microglia. Both EP2 antagonists and reactive oxygen scavengers block microglial death induced by either LPS/IL-13 or EP2 activation. By contrast, the homeostatic induction of heme oxygenase 1 (Hmox1) by LPS/IL-13 or EP2 activation protects microglia. Both the Hmox1 inducer cobalt protoporphyrin and a compound that releases the Hmox1 product carbon monoxide (CO) attenuated microglial death produced by LPS/IL-13. Whereas CO reduced COX-2 protein expression, EP2 activation increased Hmox1 and COX-2 expression at both the mRNA and protein level. Interestingly, caspase-1 inhibition prevented microglial death induced by either LPS/IL-13 or low (but not high) concentrations of butaprost, suggestive of a predominantly pyroptotic mode of death. Butaprost also caused the expression of activated caspase-3 in microglia, pointing to apoptosis. These results indicate that EP2 activation, which initially promotes microglial activation, later causes delayed death of activated microglia, potentially contributing to the resolution phase of neuroinflammation.

Topics: Alprostadil; Animals; Apoptosis; Cells, Cultured; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Gene Expression Regulation; Interleukin-13; Lipopolysaccharides; Mice; Microglia; Pilocarpine; Pregnancy; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, Prostaglandin E, EP2 Subtype; Signal Transduction; Status Epilepticus

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), a source of inflammatory mediators and a multifunctional neuronal modulator, is rapidly induced in select populations of cortical neurons after status epilepticus. The consequences of rapid activity-triggered induction of COX-2 in neurons have been the subject of much study and speculation. To address this issue directly, we created a mouse in which COX-2 is conditionally ablated in selected forebrain neurons. Results following pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus indicate that neuronal COX-2 promotes early neuroprotection and then delayed neurodegeneration of CA1 pyramidal neurons, promotes neurodegeneration of nearby somatostatin interneurons in the CA1 stratum oriens and dentate hilus (which themselves do not express COX-2), intensifies a broad inflammatory reaction involving numerous cytokines and other inflammatory mediators in the hippocampus, and is essential for development of a leaky blood-brain barrier after seizures. These findings point to a profound role of seizure-induced neuronal COX-2 expression in neuropathologies that accompany epileptogenesis.

Topics: Alprostadil; Animals; Blood-Testis Barrier; Cyclooxygenase 2; Cytokines; Disease Models, Animal; Electroencephalography; Electromyography; Encephalitis; Fluoresceins; Functional Laterality; Gene Expression Regulation; Hippocampus; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Knockout; Muscarinic Agonists; Nerve Tissue Proteins; Neurons; Organic Chemicals; Pilocarpine; Prosencephalon; Receptors, Cytokine; Somatostatin; Status Epilepticus

Protease-activated receptors (PARs) are widely expressed throughout the respiratory tract, and PAR(2) has been investigated as a potential drug target for inflammatory airway diseases. The primary focus of this study was to determine the extent to which PAR(2)-activating peptides modulate lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced airway neutrophilia in mice and establish the underlying mechanisms. Intranasal administration of LPS induced dose- and time-dependent increases in the number of neutrophils recovered from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid of mice. Coadministration of the PAR(2)-activating peptide f-LIGRL inhibited LPS-induced neutrophilia at 3 and 6 h after inoculation. PAR(2)-mediated inhibition of LPS-induced neutrophilia was mimicked by prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) and butaprost [selective E-prostanoid (EP(2)) receptor agonist], and blocked by parecoxib (cyclooxygenase 2 inhibitor) and 6-isopropoxy-9-oxoxanthene-2-carboxylic acid (AH6809) (EP(1)/EP(2) receptor antagonist). PAR(2)-activating peptides also blunted early increases in the levels of the key neutrophil chemoattractants keratinocyte-derived chemokine and macrophage inflammatory protein 2 (MIP-2) in the BAL of LPS-exposed mice. However, neither PAR(2)-activating peptides nor PGE(2) inhibited LPS-induced generation of MIP-2 in cultures of primary murine alveolar macrophages In summary, PAR(2)-activating peptides and PGE(2) suppressed LPS-induced neutrophilia in murine airways, independently of an inhibitory action on MIP-2 generation by alveolar macrophages.

Topics: Alprostadil; Animals; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid; Cells, Cultured; Chemokine CXCL2; Cyclooxygenase Inhibitors; Cytokines; Dinoprostone; Disease Models, Animal; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Leukocyte Count; Lipopolysaccharides; Macrophages, Alveolar; Mice; Neutrophil Infiltration; Neutrophils; Oligopeptides; Receptor, PAR-2; Receptors, Prostaglandin E; Respiratory Tract Diseases

As part of a systematic elucidation of the pharmacology of prostaglandin's (PG) effects on intraocular pressure in the monkey, the prototypical selective prostanoid EP(4) receptor agonist (3,7-dithia PGE(1)) was examined. It was found to be highly efficacious in nonhuman primates, and its mechanism of ocular hypotensive activity was investigated.. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured by pneumatonometry in conscious monkeys restrained in custom-designed chairs. All other animal experiments were performed in animals sedated with ketamine or anesthetized with ketamine/diazepam and given drug or vehicle for various lengths of time. Aqueous flow was determined by fluorophotometry. Total outflow facility was measured by the two-level, constant-pressure method and by 2-minute tonography in both normotensive and hypertensive monkey eyes. Uveoscleral outflow was measured by perfusing the anterior chamber with FITC-labeled dextran for 30 minutes at a fixed IOP of approximately 15 mm Hg. Isometric responses to drugs were measured in longitudinal and radial preparations of monkey and human isolated ciliary smooth muscle specimens.. The selective EP(4) receptor agonist 3,7-dithia PGE(1) and an isopropyl ester prodrug thereof reduced IOP in monkeys. A single dose of 3,7-dithia PGE(1) isopropyl ester, at a 0.01% or 0.1% dose, decreased IOP in the glaucomatous monkey in the range of 40% to 50%. Studies on total outflow facility by the two-level, constant-pressure perfusion method and tonography indicated that EP(4) receptor stimulation facilitated aqueous humor outflow facility. No effect on aqueous flow was apparent. In contrast to all PGs and prostamides studied to date, 3,7-dithia PGE(1) exerted no effect on uveoscleral outflow measured directly. Moreover, it did not relax longitudinal or radial preparations of isolated human or monkey ciliary muscles.. The EP(4) receptor agonist 3,7-dithia PGE(1) is a highly efficacious IOP-lowering drug in monkeys. It has no effect on uveoscleral outflow but does increase total outflow facility, which accounts for a substantial proportion of the ocular hypotensive activity.

Topics: Alprostadil; Animals; Anterior Chamber; Antihypertensive Agents; Aqueous Humor; Atropine; Ciliary Body; Dextrans; Dinoprostone; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; Fluorophotometry; Humans; Intraocular Pressure; Isometric Contraction; Macaca fascicularis; Muscle, Smooth; Ocular Hypotension; Receptors, Prostaglandin E; Receptors, Prostaglandin E, EP4 Subtype; Sclera; Tonometry, Ocular; Transfection; Uvea

To investigate the ocular hypotensive effect of the prostanoid EP2 receptor agonist butaprost and to establish its mechanism of action.. All experiments were performed in cynomolgus monkeys after topical application of butaprost (0.1%). The effects of butaprost on aqueous humor flow were determined by fluorophotometry. Total outflow facility was measured by the two-level, constant-pressure perfusion method, and uveoscleral outflow was determined by perfusion of FITC-labeled dextran through the anterior chamber. Effects on ocular morphology were studied after tissue fixation with transcardial perfusion by paraformaldehyde and immersion fixation of the globe, in animals subjected to long-term treatment with butaprost. Conscious ocular normotensive monkeys and monkeys with unilateral ocular hypertension were used for intraocular pressure (IOP) studies.. Butaprost had no significant effect on aqueous humor flow or total outflow facility in ocular normotensive monkeys. Uveoscleral outflow was significantly higher in the butaprost treated eyes than in vehicle treated eyes, 1.03 +/- 0.20 vs. 0.53 +/- 0.18 microL.min(-1). After a 1-year treatment with butaprost, the morphology of the ciliary muscle was changed, showing increased spaces between ciliary muscle bundles and the apparent formation of new outflow channels. In many instances, changes were observed in the trabecular meshwork as well. Butaprost, in a single 0.1% dose, decreased IOP significantly in ocular normotensive monkeys and reduced IOP in laser-induced glaucomatous monkey eyes to the same level as that in the ocular normotensive contralateral eyes.. The prostanoid EP2 receptor agonist butaprost appears to lower IOP by increasing uveoscleral outflow, according to both physiological and morphologic findings. Although the prostanoid EP2 receptor is structurally and functionally distinct from the FP receptor, the effects of EP2 and FP receptor stimulation on aqueous humor outflow are similar.

Topics: Administration, Topical; Alprostadil; Animals; Aqueous Humor; Ciliary Body; Dextrans; Disease Models, Animal; Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate; Fluorophotometry; Intraocular Pressure; Macaca fascicularis; Muscle, Smooth; Ocular Hypertension; Prostaglandins E, Synthetic; Receptors, Prostaglandin E; Receptors, Prostaglandin E, EP2 Subtype; Sclera; Trabecular Meshwork; Uvea

Recent studies suggest that the inducible isoform of cyclooxygenase, COX-2, promotes motor neuron loss in rodent models of ALS. We investigated the effects of PGE2, a principal downstream prostaglandin product of COX-2 activity, on motor neuron survival in an organotypic culture model of ALS. We find that PGE2 paradoxically protects motor neurons at physiological concentrations in this model. PGE2 exerts its downstream effects by signaling through a class of four distinct G-protein-coupled E-prostanoid receptors (EP1-EP4) that have divergent effects on cAMP. EP2 and EP3 are dominantly expressed in ventral spinal cord in neurons and astrocytes, and activation of these receptor subtypes individually or in combination also rescued motor neurons. The EP2 receptor is positively coupled to cAMP, and its neuroprotection was mimicked by application of forskolin and blocked by inhibition of PKA, suggesting that its protective effect is mediated by downstream effects of cAMP. Conversely, the EP3 receptor is negatively coupled to cAMP, and its neuroprotective effect was blocked by pertussis toxin, suggesting that its protective effect is dependent on Gi-coupled heterotrimeric signaling. Taken together, these data demonstrate an unexpected neuroprotective effect mediated by PGE2, in which activation of its EP2 and EP3 receptors protected motor neurons from chronic glutamate toxicity.

Topics: Alprostadil; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Astrocytes; Cell Count; Cyclic AMP; Dinoprostone; Disease Models, Animal; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Drug Interactions; Enzyme Inhibitors; Immunohistochemistry; Motor Neurons; Neurofilament Proteins; Organ Culture Techniques; Pertussis Toxin; Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases; Proto-Oncogene Proteins; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, Prostaglandin E; Spinal Cord; Statistics, Nonparametric