These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Induction of cyclooxygenase-2 by anandamide in cerebral microvascular endothelium.
    Author: Chen P, Hu S, Yao J, Moore SA, Spector AA, Fang X.
    Journal: Microvasc Res; 2005 Jan; 69(1-2):28-35. PubMed ID: 15797258.
    Abstract:
    Anandamide (AEA), an endogenous cannabinoid receptor agonist, is a potent vasodilator in the cerebral microcirculation. AEA is converted to arachidonic acid (AA) by fatty acid amidohydrolase (FAAH), and the conversion of AA to prostaglandins has been proposed as a potential mechanism for the vasodilation. Although AEA stimulated prostaglandin production by mouse cerebral microvascular endothelial cells, no [(3)H]prostaglandins were produced when these cells were incubated with [3H]AEA. Incubation with R(+)-methanandamide (MAEA), a stable analogue of AEA that is not a substrate for FAAH, produced a similar increase in PGE2 production as AEA. The PGE2 production induced by either AEA or MAEA was completely inhibited by NS-398, a selective cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 inhibitor, suggesting that COX-2 was induced. AEA and MAEA increased the expression of COX-2 protein in a time-dependent manner. This increase occurred as early as 1 h and reached maximum at 2 h. Induction of COX-2 protein by AEA was partially inhibited by AM-251, a selective cannabinoid receptor-1 antagonist. Furthermore, AEA increased COX-2 promoter activity approximately twofold above baseline in a fragment ranging from -1432 to +59, the full-length of the COX-2 promoter, and the increase in COX-2 promoter activity produced by AEA was partially inhibited by AM-251. These results indicate that AEA increased COX-2 expression at the transcriptional level through, at least in part, a cannabinoid receptor-1-mediated mechanism in cerebral microvascular endothelium.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]