Exploring a novel target of levetiracetam to suppress microglial inflammatory reaction

Microglia are macrophages-like cells in the central nervous system (CNS) harboring important roles such as synaptic organization, phagocytosis of debris and apoptotic cells, and repairing damaged tissue. Microglial function is tightly controlled, but under certain pathological conditions, activated microglia can induce excess inflammation which injure live cells in the CNS. Therefore, suppression of microglia is a fundamental strategy to treat CNS disorders. We have previously shown that the antiepileptic drug levetiracetam (LEV) inhibits microglia activation, but mechanism remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to identify a target of LEV to suppress microglial activity. BV-2 cells were pretreated with levetiracetam and then treated with lipopolysaccharide.