Title : Looking for new antidepressants - interactions between COX-2 and glutamatergic receptors
Abstract:
Depression is one of the main mental disorders requiring hospitalization, fraught with the incidence of suicide attempts. Statistics indicate that depression is twice as common in women as in men; it affects middle-aged people, but also the elderly and children and adolescents. Recent literature, shows a significant increase in the incidence of depression. It is important to search for new mechanisms of depression in order to synthesize drugs. My search has focused on interactions between cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). About this very research I would like to tell you. Glutamate (Glu, glutamic acid) is the main excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain, which, together with the inhibitory gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA), is responsible for maintaining normal functional homeostasis in the brain. Dysregulation of Glu neurotransmission is observed in depression, anxiety, and cognitive dysfunction, among others. The distribution of neurons, pathways, and glutamatergic endings in the brain is very well understood and described. Glu is the main neurotransmitter of the pyramidal neurons of the new cortex, from where it forms projections to the most essential brain structures (such as the striatum, amygdala, thalamus), and to the spinal cord. Glu receptors are divided into ionotropic, and metabotropic receptors. In turn, one of the main building components of neural tissue are polyunsaturated fatty acids of the omega-6 (ω-6), and ω-3 types. The main fatty acid of the ω-6 pathway is arachidonic acid (AA), which is released from membrane phospholipids under the influence of phospholipase A2 (PLA2). The ω-6 pathway is known as the inflammatory pathway, or the pro-inflammatory cytokine pathway. AA released from cell membranes is metabolized to prostanoids (PG) under the influence of cyclic prostaglandin hydroperoxide synthase (PGHS), called cyclooxygenase. How these two components regulate each other affecting the mood I will tell in the lecture.
Audience Take Away
- The lecture will provide an understanding of the basic mechanisms of brain function and bring awareness to the importance of neurotransmission pathways such as Glu and COX-2 in mood changes
- The knowledge gained will allow the introduction of new research techniques in laboratories and will allow to establish cooperation
- Understanding what modulation of excitatory transmission involves will allow for new hypotheses to synthesize new, more effective drugs for depression
