Inhibition of the prostaglandin receptor EP2 following status epilepticus reduces delayed mortality and brain inflammation

Inhibition of the prostaglandin receptor EP2 following status epilepticus reduces delayed mortality and brain inflammation

1. Jianxiong Jiang^a,¹,
2. Yi Quan^a,
3. Thota Ganesh^a,
4. Wendy A. Pouliot^b,
5. F. Edward Dudek^b, and
6. Raymond Dingledine^a

Author Affiliations

1. Edited by Solomon H. Snyder, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, and approved January 17, 2013 (received for review October 23, 2012)

Abstract

Prostaglandin E2 is now widely recognized to play critical roles in brain inflammation and injury, although the responsible prostaglandin receptors have not been fully identified. We developed a potent and selective antagonist for the prostaglandin E2 receptor subtype EP2, TG6-10-1, with a sufficient pharmacokinetic profile to be used in vivo. We found that in the mouse pilocarpine model of status epilepticus (SE), systemic administration of TG6-10-1 completely recapitulates the effects of conditional ablation of cyclooxygenase-2 from principal forebrain neurons, namely reduced delayed mortality, accelerated recovery from weight loss, reduced brain inflammation, prevention of blood–brain barrier opening, and neuroprotection in the hippocampus, without modifying seizures acutely. Prolonged SE in humans causes high mortality and morbidity that are associated with brain inflammation and injury, but currently the only effective treatment is to stop the seizures quickly enough with anticonvulsants to prevent brain damage. Our results suggest that the prostaglandin receptor EP2 is critically involved in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration, and point to EP2 receptor antagonism as an adjunctive therapeutic strategy to treat SE.

• inflammatory cytokine
• electroencephalography
• epileptogenesis
• gliosis
• neuronal injury

Footnotes

• ¹To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jjiang3@emory.edu.

• Author contributions: J.J., F.E.D., and R.D. designed research; J.J., Y.Q., T.G., and W.A.P. performed research; J.J., Y.Q., W.A.P., F.E.D., and R.D. analyzed data; and J.J. and R.D. wrote the paper.
• The authors declare no conflict of interest.
• This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
• This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1218498110/-/DCSupplemental.