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Astrocytes have been recognized as important elements in controlling inflammatory as well as immune processes in the central nervous system (CNS). Recently, glial cells have been shown to produce cysteinyl leukotrienes (CysLTs) which are known lipid mediators of inflammation and whose extracellular concentrations rise under different pathological conditions in the brain. In the same conditions also extracellular concentrations of ATP dramatically increase reaching levels able to activate P2X7 ionotropic receptors for which an emerging role in neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration has been claimed. RTPCR analysis showed that primary cultures of rat brain astrocytes express P2X7 receptors. Application of the selective P2X7 agonist benzoyl benzoly ATP (BzATP) markedly increased [Ca2+]i which was mediated by a calcium influx from the extracellular milieu. The P2X7 antagonist, oATP, suppressed the BzATP-induced calcium increase. Consistent with the evidence that increased calcium levels activate the leukotriene biosynthetic pathway, challenge of astrocytes with either the calcium ionophore A23187 or BzATP significantly increased CysLT production and the cell pre-treatment with EGTA abolished these effects. Again the P2X7 antagonist prevented the BzATP-mediated CysLT efflux, whereas the astrocyte pretreatment with MK-571, a CysLT1 receptor antagonist, was ineffective. The astrocyte pre-treatment with a cocktail of inhibitors of ATP binding cassette (ABC) proteins reduced the BzATP-mediated CysLT production confirming that ABC transporters are involved in the release of CysLTs. The astrocyte P2X7- evoked rise of CysLT efflux was abolished in the presence of MK-886, an inhibitor of 5-lipoxygenase activating protein (FLAP) whose expression, along with that of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LO) was reported by Northern Blot analysis. The stimulation of P2X7 induced an up-regulation of FLAPmRNA that was reduced by the antagonist oATP. These data suggest that in rat brain cultured astrocytes P2X7ATP receptors may participate in the control of CysLT release thus further supporting a role for extracellular ATP as an integral component of the inflammatory brain response.

Inflammation is widely recognized as contributing to the pathology of acute and chronic neurodegenerative conditions. Microglial cells are pathologic sensors in the brain and activated microglia have been viewed as detrimental. Leukotriene, including cysteinyl leukotrienes (CysLTs) are suggested to be involved in brain inflammation and neurological diseases and ATP, by its receptors is a candidate for microglia activation. A23187 (10 microM) stimulated microglia to co-release CysLTs and [3H] adenine based purines ([3H] ABPs), mainly ATP. The biosynthetic production of CysLTs was abolished by 10 microM MK-886, an inhibitor of 5-lipoxygenase-activating protein activity. RT-PCR analysis showed that microglia expressed both CysLT1 / CysLT2 receptors, P2Y1ATP receptors and several members of the ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters including MRP1, MRP4 and Pgp. The increase in [Ca2+]i elicited by LTD4 (0.1 microM) and 2MeSATP (100 microM), agonists for CysLT- and P2Y1-receptors, was abolished by the respective antagonists, BAYu9773 (0.5 microM) and suramin (50 microM). The stimulation of both receptor subtypes, induced a concomitant increase in the release of both [3H] ABPs and CysLTs that was blocked by the antagonists and significantly reduced by a cocktail of ABC transporter inhibitors, BAPTA/AM (intracellular Ca2+ chelator) and staurosporine (0.1 microM, PKC blocker). P2Y antagonist was unable to antagonise the effects of LTD4 and BAYu9773 did not reduce the effects of 2MeSATP. These data suggest that: i) the efflux of purines and cysteinyl-leukotrienes is specifically and independently controlled by the two receptor types, ii) calcium, PKC and the ABC transporter system can reasonably be considered common mechanisms underlying the release of ABPs and CysLTs from microglia. The blockade of P2Y1 or CysLT1/CysLT2 receptors by specific antagonists that abolished the raise in [Ca2+]i and drastically reduced the concomitant efflux of both compounds, as well as the effects of BAPTA and staurosporine support this hypothesis. In conclusion, the data of the present study suggest a cross talk between the purine and leukotriene systems in a possible autocrine/paracrine control of the microglia-mediated initiation and progression of an inflammatory response.

Two different analytical methods for the quality control of fluoxetine in commercial formulations have been developed and compared: a spectrofluorimetric method and a capillary zone electrophoretic (CZE) method. The fluorescence emission values were measured at lambda=293 nm when exciting at lambda=230 nm. The CZE method used an uncoated fused-silica capillary and pH 2.5 phosphate buffer as the background electrolyte. The extraction of fluoxetine from the capsules consisted of a simple one-step dissolution with methanol/water, filtration and dilution. Both methods gave satisfactory results in terms of precision; the best results were obtained for the electrophoretic method, with RSD% values always lower than 2.0%. The accuracy was assessed by means of recovery studies, which gave very good results, between 97.5 and 102.6%. Furthermore, both methods also have the advantage of being very rapid.