Regulation of Proinflammatory Enzymes by Peroxisome Proliferator–Activated Receptor Gamma in Astroglia Infected with Toxoplasma gondii

Peroxisome proliferator–activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) regulates neuroinflammation, and its agonists act as neuroprotective agents. This study aims to investigate the correlation between PPARγ and proinflammatory enzyme expression in astroglia infected with Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoite in vitro. Our results showed that matrix metalloprotease (MMP)-2, MMP-9, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), prostaglandin (PGE)-2, inducible nitric-oxide synthase (iNOS), and nitric oxide (NO) were significantly increased in T. gondii–infected astroglia. Furthermore, the expression levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, COX-2, PGE-2, iNOS, and NO were significantly decreased by rosiglitazone—a PPARγ agonist. By contrast, the treatment with GW9662, a PPARγ antagonist, efficiently increased the expression levels of MMP-2, MMP-9, COX-2, PGE-2, iNOS, and NO. These results suggested that the treatment with rosiglitazone offers a potential strategy for controlling the inflammatory factors in T. gondii infection.