PMID- 12763257
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20030728
LR  - 20190614
IS  - 0006-8993 (Print)
IS  - 0006-8993 (Linking)
VI  - 976
IP  - 2
DP  - 2003 Jun 27
TI  - Expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and inducible nitric oxide 
      synthase (iNOS) in rat astrocyte cultures treated with Levetiracetam.
PG  - 227-33
AB  - The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of Levetiracetam, a 
      new antiepileptic drug, on the synthesis of brain-derived neurotrophic factor 
      (BDNF) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in rat cortical astrocyte 
      cultures. The astrocytes were treated for 48 h with different concentrations of 
      Levetiracetam and the expression of BDNF and iNOS was analyzed by immunostaining 
      and immunoblotting analyses. We observed that Levetiracetam is able to stimulate 
      expression of both BDNF and iNOS in a concentration-dependent manner on rat 
      cortical astrocyte cultures. For the BDNF, this effect appears at very low 
      concentrations (1 and 10 microgram/ml), while expression of iNOS appears only at 
      higher dosages (50 microgram/ml). We conclude that Levetiracetam might exert 
      neuroprotective effects, at least in part, via stimulation of neurotrophic 
      factors, thus reducing the extent of inflammation and neuronal death under 
      pathological conditions such as epilepsy.
FAU - Cardile, Venera
AU  - Cardile V
AD  - Department of Physiological Sciences, University of Catania, V.le Andrea Doria 6, 
      95125, Catania, Italy.
FAU - Pavone, Antonino
AU  - Pavone A
FAU - Gulino, Rosario
AU  - Gulino R
FAU - Renis, Marcella
AU  - Renis M
FAU - Scifo, Christian
AU  - Scifo C
FAU - Perciavalle, Vincenzo
AU  - Perciavalle V
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
PL  - Netherlands
TA  - Brain Res
JT  - Brain research
JID - 0045503
RN  - 0 (Anticonvulsants)
RN  - 0 (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor)
RN  - 0 (Lipopolysaccharides)
RN  - 44YRR34555 (Levetiracetam)
RN  - EC 1.14.13.39 (Nitric Oxide Synthase)
RN  - EC 1.14.13.39 (Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II)
RN  - EC 1.14.13.39 (Nos2 protein, rat)
RN  - ZH516LNZ10 (Piracetam)
SB  - IM
MH  - Animals
MH  - Anticonvulsants/*pharmacology
MH  - Astrocytes/cytology/drug effects/*enzymology
MH  - Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor/*metabolism
MH  - Cells, Cultured
MH  - Immunohistochemistry
MH  - Levetiracetam
MH  - Lipopolysaccharides/pharmacology
MH  - Nitric Oxide Synthase/*metabolism
MH  - Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II
MH  - Piracetam/*analogs & derivatives/*pharmacology
MH  - Rats
MH  - Rats, Wistar
EDAT- 2003/05/24 05:00
MHDA- 2003/07/29 05:00
CRDT- 2003/05/24 05:00
PHST- 2003/05/24 05:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2003/07/29 05:00 [medline]
PHST- 2003/05/24 05:00 [entrez]
AID - S0006899303027203 [pii]
AID - 10.1016/s0006-8993(03)02720-3 [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Brain Res. 2003 Jun 27;976(2):227-33. doi: 10.1016/s0006-8993(03)02720-3.