Event Abstract Back to Event Pronounced upregulation of the microglial CB2 receptor in an inflammation driven rat model of Parkinson’s disease: Implications for anti-inflammatory disease modification Ruth M. Concannon1, 2, Bright N. Okine1, 2, David P. Finn1, 2 and Eilis Dowd1, 2* 1 National University of Ireland Galway, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Ireland 2 National University of Ireland Galway, NCBES Galway Neuroscience Centre, Ireland The endocannabinoid system has recently emerged as a potential anti-inflammatory target to break the self-sustaining cycle of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration that is associated with neurodegenerative diseases. However, in order to facilitate the investigation of cannabinoid drugs in neurodegenerative disease, the changes that occur in the endocannabinoid system in response to different degenerative triggers needs to be elucidated. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate and compare the changes that occur in the endocannabinoid system in neurotoxic and inflammation-driven models of Parkinson’s disease. Male Sprague Dawley rats were given a single, intra-striatal injection of the dopaminergic neurotoxin, 6-hydroxydopamine, or the bacterial inflammagen, lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Animals underwent behavioural testing for motor dysfunction on Days 7, 14 and 28 days, and were sacrificed on Days 1, 4, 14 and 28 post-surgery (n=8 per treatment, per timepoint). Changes in the endocannabinoid system were investigated by qRT-PCR, mass spectrometry and immunohistochemistry. Following injection of 6-hydroxydopamine or LPS into the rat striatum, we found that expression of the cannabinoid type 2, (CB2) receptor was significantly elevated which correlated significantly with an increase in microglial activation. Interestingly, the increase in CB2 receptor expression in the inflammation-driven model was significantly more pronounced than that in the neurotoxic model. Moreover, elevation of striatal endocannabinoid levels was also observed in the LPS model but not the 6-hydroxydopamine model. Thus, this study has shown that the endocannabinoid system is dysregulated in different models of Parkinson’s disease, and has also revealed significant differences between the models themselves. This study indicates that targeting the CB2 receptor may represent a viable target for anti-inflammatory disease modification in Parkinson’s disease. Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of Irish Health Research Board Grant no. (HRA_POR/2012/12). Keywords: CB2 receptor, endocannabinoid system, Parkinson Disease, Neuroinflammation, animal model Conference: Neuroscience Ireland Young Neuroscientists Symposium 2014 , Dublin, Ireland, 20 Sep - 20 Sep, 2014. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Early Career Neuroscience Citation: Concannon RM, Okine BN, Finn DP and Dowd E (2014). Pronounced upregulation of the microglial CB2 receptor in an inflammation driven rat model of Parkinson’s disease: Implications for anti-inflammatory disease modification. Front. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: Neuroscience Ireland Young Neuroscientists Symposium 2014 . doi: 10.3389/conf.fnins.2014.87.00025 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 15 Sep 2014; Published Online: 15 Sep 2014. * Correspondence: Dr. Eilis Dowd, National University of Ireland Galway, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Galway, Ireland, eilis.dowd@nuigalway.ie Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Ruth M Concannon Bright N Okine David P Finn Eilis Dowd Google Ruth M Concannon Bright N Okine David P Finn Eilis Dowd Google Scholar Ruth M Concannon Bright N Okine David P Finn Eilis Dowd PubMed Ruth M Concannon Bright N Okine David P Finn Eilis Dowd Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.