Honors Theses
Date of Award
Fall 5-8-2022
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Biology
First Advisor
Nicole Ashpole
Second Advisor
Jason Paris
Third Advisor
Dale Nagle
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
Chronic inflammation is a driver of numerous neurodegenerative diseases that reduce quality of life for affected individuals. Non-psychoactive cannabinoids have begun to gain more interest in the world of anti-inflammatory medicine for chronically ill patients. Along with these cannabinoids, insulin-like growth factor-1 has been examined for its association with downregulation of inflammation. Our research aimed to investigate how neuroglia are affected by treatment with cannabinoids or IGF-1 in the face of inflammation from HIV-1 protein, Tat, or lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Preliminary studies in our laboratory showed that neither cannabinoids or IGF-1 treatment altered astrocyte morphology or overall astrocyte viability under baseline conditions, indicating no overt consequences of IGF-1 or cannabinoid treatment. Therefore, we hypothesized that cannabinoids and IGF-1 treatment would counteract astrogliosis induced by the key inflammatory mediators- tat and LPS. Numerous cannabinoids were assessed, with cannabidiol (CBD) showing significant effects across numerous measures of cell morphology and viability in the presence of Tat. No differences were observed when IGF-1 was administered. We also investigated whether astrocyte-derived IGF-1 would alter the number and size of microglia (Iba1+ cells) present in a sample of hippocampus tissue following systemic inflammation with LPS. We predicted that mice with astrocytic-IGF-1 knockout would suffer
more heavily from the neuroinflammatory effects of LPS. Surprisingly, the effects were minimal and indicated sex- and region-dependence, despite systemic inflammation in both males and females. Additional work is on-going to assess astrocyte response, as well as to assess the effects of cannabinoids on microglial and astroglial activation in mice exposed to chronic inflammation. Together, we hoped to clarify the protective capabilities of IGF-1 and cannabinoids on astrocytic and microglial cells, both of which hold an important role in neurological conditions.
Recommended Citation
Bloodworth, Caleb, "Investigating the Neuroprotective Effects of Cannabinoids and Insulin-like Growth Factors on Glia with Induced Inflammation" (2022). Honors Theses. 2687.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2687
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