EN
It has been suggested that, in addition to modulation of monoaminergic neurotransmission, antipsychotic drugs can also affect expression of neurotrophic factors in the brain. The present study was aimed to examine the effects of the first generation neuroleptic drug (FGA; haloperidol) and second generation neuroleptic drugs (SGAs; olanzapine and amisulpride) on expression and level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in astrocyte-like T98G glioblastoma cell line. Effects of these drugs were compared to the action of PACAP38, a neuropeptide with well known BDNF-mediated neuroprotective effects. The tested neuroleptics differentially regulated the mRNA expression and protein level of BDNF depending on the concentration and incubation time. Using rtPCR technique, we demonstrate that, from the three tested neuroleptics, both haloperidol as well as olanzapine at 5 μM concentration (but not at 20 μM) increased BDNF mRNA expression with a similar efficacy after a 72 h incubation. In order to confirm the observed changes in the mRNA expression of BDNF, a protein expression assay was performed. The exposure of cells only to 5 μM olanzapine for 72 h increased BDNF concentration in the culture medium by 29%. Additionally, PACAP significantly up-regulated BDNF mRNA expression in T98G cells and the obtained results correlated positively with the increased production of BDNF protein, by 22% above control. The results of the paper show that olanzapine, similarly to exogenous PACAP38, increased BDNF mRNA expression and protein release, which can contribute to its neuroprotective mechanism of action in the cells of nonneuronal origin. The results of the present paper confirm the findings that BDNF may represent the key target for olanzapine and PACAP.