Dopaminergic but not glutamatergic neurotransmission is increased in the striatum after selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition in normal and hemiparkinsonian rats.

In the present work, we studied the effect of the selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, compound 11 g, celecoxib and selective COX-1 inhibitor SC-560 (intraperitoneally and acutely) on striatal glutamatergic and dopaminergic neurotransmission in normal and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc)-lesioned rats using the microdialysis technique. We also investigated the effect of acute COX inhibition on the damaged SNc neurons. Our results indicate a significant increase in dopaminergic neurotransmission and a decrease in glutamatergic neurotransmission (P<0.05) only after selective COX-2 inhibition in the striatum of normal and hemiparkinsonian rats. Nonetheless, neither COX-1 nor COX-2 inhibitors showed any improvement in the damaged SNc neurons.