Neuroprotective effects of the mood stabilizer lamotrigine against glutamate excitotoxicity: roles of chromatin remodelling and Bcl-2 induction.

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Leng Y, Fessler EB, Chuang DM

Neuroprotective effects of the mood stabilizer lamotrigine against glutamate excitotoxicity: roles of chromatin remodelling and Bcl-2 induction.

Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2013 Apr;16(3):607-20. doi: 10.1017/S1461145712000429. Epub 2012 May 8.

PubMed ID

22564541 [ View in PubMed

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Abstract

Lamotrigine (LTG), a phenyltriazine derivative and anti-epileptic drug, has emerged as an effective first-line treatment for bipolar mood disorder. Like the other mood stabilizers lithium and valproate, LTG also has neuroprotective properties but its exact mechanisms remain poorly defined. The present study utilized rat cerebellar granule cells (CGCs) to examine the neuroprotective effects of LTG against glutamate-induced excitotoxicity and to investigate potential underlying mechanisms. CGCs pretreated with LTG were challenged with an excitotoxic dose of glutamate. Pretreatment caused a time- and concentration-dependent inhibition of glutamate excitotoxicity with nearly full protection at higher doses (>/= 100 mum), as revealed by cell viability assays and morphology. LTG treatment increased levels of acetylated histone H3 and H4 as well as dose- and time-dependently enhanced B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) mRNA and protein levels; these changes were associated with up-regulation of the histone acetylation and activity of the Bcl-2 promoter. Importantly, lentiviral-mediated Bcl-2 silencing by shRNA reduced both LTG-induced Bcl-2 mRNA up-regulation and neuroprotection against glutamate excitotoxicity. Finally, the co-presence of a sub-effective concentration of LTG (10 mum) with lithium or valproate produced synergistic neuroprotection. Together, our results demonstrate that the neuroprotective effects of LTG against glutamate excitotoxicity likely involve histone deacetylase inhibition and downstream up-regulation of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. These underlying mechanisms may contribute to the clinical efficacy of LTG in treating bipolar disorder and warrant further investigation.

DrugBank Data that Cites this Article

Drug Targets

Drug	Target	Kind	Organism	Pharmacological Action	Actions
Lamotrigine	Glutamate receptor 1	Protein	Humans	Unknown	Inhibitor	Details