Increased arachidonic acid-containing phosphatidylcholine is associated with reactive microglia and astrocytes in the spinal cord after peripheral nerve injury

Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) triggers cellular and molecular changes in the spinal cord. However, little is known about how the polyunsaturated fatty acid-containing phosphatidylcholines (PUFA-PCs) are regulated in the spinal cord after PNI and the association of PUFA-PCs with the non-neuronal cells within in the central nervous system (CNS). In this study, we found that arachidonic acid-containing phosphatidylcholine (AA-PC), [PC(16:0/20:4)+K](+), was significantly increased in the ipsilateral ventral and dorsal horns of the spinal cord after sciatic nerve transection, and the increased expression of [PC(16:0/20:4)+K](+) spatiotemporally resembled the increase of reactive microglia and the astrocytes. From the lipidomics point of view, we conclude that [PC(16:0/20:4)+K](+) could be the main phospholipid in the spinal cord influenced by PNI, and the regulation of specific phospholipid molecule in the CNS after PNI is associated with the reactive microglia and astrocytes.