Studies on prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 1: Lower levels in schizophrenia and after treatment with antipsychotic drugs in conjunction with aspirin

Abstract

Background: Antipsychotic drugs plus aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid), which targets prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 1 (PTGS1: COX1), improved therapeutic outcomes when treating schizophrenia. Our microarray data showed higher levels of PTGS1 mRNA in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex from subjects with schizophrenia of long duration of illness, suggesting aspirin plus antipsychotic drugs could have therapeutic effects by lowering PTGS1 expression in the cortex of subjects with the disorder. Methods: We used Western blotting to measure levels of PTSG1 protein in human postmortem CNS, rat and mouse cortex, and cells in culture. Results: Compared with controls, PTGS1 levels were 41% lower in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (P