Atrial natriuretic peptide expression is increased in rat cerebral cortex following spreading depression: possible...

Cortical spreading depression (CSD) is characterised by slowly propagating waves of cellular depolarization and depression and involves transient changes in blood flow, ion balance and metabolism. In cerebral ischaemia, peri-infarct CSD-like depolarization potentiates infarct growth, whereas preconditioning with a CSD episode protects against subsequent ischaemic insult. Thus, many of the long-lasting molecular changes that occur in CSD-affected tissue are presumed to be part of a 'neuroprotective cascade.' 3',5'-Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) has been shown to be a neuroprotective mediator and the nitric oxide system, which increases cGMP production by soluble guanylate cyclase, is up-regulated by CSD. Atrial and C-type natriuretic peptide (ANP/CNP) are present in cerebral cortex and their actions are mediated via particulate guanylate cyclase receptors and cGMP production. Therefore, in further efforts to characterise the role of cGMP-related systems in CSD and neuroprotection, this study investigated possible changes in cortical natriuretic peptide expression following acute, unilateral CSD in rats. Using in situ hybridisation, significant 20-80% increases in ANP mRNA were detected in layers II and VI of ipsilateral cortex at 6 h and 1-14 days after CSD. Ipsilateral cortical levels were again equivalent to control contralateral values after 28 days. Assessment of cortical concentrations of ANP immunoreactivity by radioimmunoassay revealed a significant 57% increase at 7 days after CSD. Despite using a sensitive signal-amplification protocol, authentic ANP-like immunostaining was readily detected in subcortical nerve fibres, but was not reliably detected in normal or CSD-affected neocortex, suggesting the presence of very low levels, and/or active or differential processing of the peptide. Cortical CNP mRNA levels are not altered by CSD, indicating the specificity of the observed effects.Overall, these novel findings demonstrate a prolonged increase in cortical ANP expression after an acute episode of CSD. The overlap between the described time course of CSD-induced protection against ischaemic insult and demonstrated increases in ANP levels, suggest that ANP (like nitric oxide) may contribute to CSD-induced neuroprotection, via effects on cGMP production and other signal-transduction pathways.