Expression and regulation of the two cyclooxygenase isoforms in rhesus macaque brain during lentivirus infection: differentiation of reversible inflammatory and irreversible neuro…

The regulation of cyclooxygenase type-1 and type-2 (COX-1, COX-2), key enzymes in the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostanoids and mediators of inflammation, was investigated in the brain of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus macaques. COX-1 and COX-2 were constitutively expressed in hippocampal and cortical neurons. COX-1 was additionally found to be expressed in cholinergic basal forebrain neurons (septum, diagonal band of Broca and nucleus basalis of Meynert). This expression was highly species-specific, as COX-1 was coexpressed with specific cholinergic markers choline acetyl transefera…