Quinacrine abolishes increases in cytoplasmic phospholipase A2 mRNA levels in the rat hippocampus after kainate-induced neuronal injury

Abstract

The present investigation was carried out to study the possible effects of quinacrine in modulating cytoplasmic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) mRNA levels in rat hippocampus after kainate treatment. Injections of kainate into the right lateral ventricle resulted in significant increases in cPLA2 mRNA levels in the hippocampus, at 3 days and 7 days after injection. The elevation in cPLA2 mRNA levels is consistent with previous observations of increased cPLA2 immunoreactivity in degenerating neurons and astrocytes at these times. Rats that received once daily intraperitoneal injections of quinacrine (5 mg/kg) after the intracerebroventricular kainate injections showed almost complete attenuation of increased cPLA2 expression, at both 3 and 7 days after kainate injection. These results show that in addition to its well-known effect of inhibition of PLA2 activity, quinacrine could also inhibit cPLA2 expression, and further supports a role for PLA2 in kainate-induced neuronal injury.