Cyclooxygenase-2 and Prostaglandin E2 Signaling through Prostaglandin Receptor EP-2 Favor the Development of Myocarditis during Acute Trypanosoma cruzi Infection.

Inflammation plays an important role in the pathophysiology of Chagas disease, caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. Prostanoids are regulators of homeostasis and inflammation and are produced mainly by myeloid cells, being cyclooxygenases, COX-1 and COX-2, the key enzymes in their biosynthesis from arachidonic acid (AA). Here, we have investigated the expression of enzymes involved in AA metabolism during T.

Noradrenergic modulation of the motor response induced by long-term levodopa administration in Parkinsonian rats.

A decrease in noradrenergic activity in Parkinson's disease might play a critical role in long-term motor complications associated with chronic dopaminergic replacement. Using the rat model of parkinsonism with an additional noradrenergic degeneration induced by the N-(-2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine (DSP-4) toxin we evaluated whether the circling motor activity and dose-failure episodes induced by levodopa (L-DOPA) differ between single (6-OHDA) and double (6-OHDA + DSP-4) denervated animals challenged with a single daily dose of L-DOPA. While single-lesioned animals showed a sensitization-desensitization turning response with a significant increase on day 15 and a decrease on day 22, in double-lesioned animals, the turning activity was maximal from day 1 and did not decay on day 22.

Modulation of the motor response to dopaminergic drugs in a parkinsonian model of combined dopaminergic and noradrenergic degeneration.

Besides dopaminergic deficiency, other neurotransmitter systems such as noradrenergic nuclei are affected in Parkinson's disease. Locus coeruleus degeneration might influence the response to dopamine replacement and the presence of long-term complications such as dyskinesias. In this scenario of noradrenergic and dopaminergic neurodegeneration, behavioural effects induced by dopaminergic-interacting drugs are incompletely known.