Distribution of cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2 mRNAs and proteins in human brain and peripheral organs

We used the techniques of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting and immunohistochemistry to evaluate the expression of cyc looxygenase (COX)-1 and -2 in brain and peripheral organs of Alzheimer dise ase (AD) and control cases. We found both COX-1 and COX-2 to be constitutiv ely expressed in all organs tested, i.e., brain, heart, liver, kidney, sple en and intestine. COX-2 was substantially upregulated in affected areas of AD brain and in infarcted areas of human heart. COX-1 was only mildly upreg ulated in AD brain. Immunohistochemically, COX-2 was strongly expressed in the perinuclear, dendritic and axonal areas of pyramidal neurons, with enha nced staining in AD. These data suggest a special role for COX-2 in neurona l function. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.