Activity and potential of cannabidiol and related compounds for the treatment of neuroinflammation

Overview

Epilepsy is neurological disorder estimated to affect over 50 million people worldwide. Only 20–30% of epilepsy cases have a suspected cause. The remaining cases of epilepsies arise in the absence of obvious neurological deficits, intellectual disability, or brain injuries. Neuroinflammation has shown to be linked to neurological diseases such as epilepsy. Neuroinflammation is a normal response that helps to maintain equilibrium. When the inflammation continues for an extended period of time or is overactive it can cause cellular abnormalities seen in acute and chronic neurodegeneration and in epilepsy. Refractory epilepsy is epilepsy resistant to standard treatments including antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), ketogenic diets, high doses of steroids, and neurostimulation therapies. It affects approximately 10–20% of minors with epilepsy. Cannabinoid treatment is a current therapeutic measure explored for theses minors/patients with neurodevelopmental disorders and particularly in refractive epilepsy. However, the mechanisms by which these compounds act on neural cells is yet to be fully delineated.

We hypothesise that cannabinoid treatment will decrease neuroinflammation through alterations to the endocannabinoid-related systems/pathways. This project will investigate the effects of cannabinoid treatment on neural cells. in addition to the potential of using exosomal delivery of cannabinoids could improve the ability of the drugs on the cells. In addition, it will address a major obstacle to the accurate identification of endocannabinoids and eicosanoids which is the similarity between the molecular structures of these compounds and the lack of specific antibodies in traditional immunoassays. This project will utilise mass spectrometry to differentiate each lipid type (e.g. endocannabinoids, eicosanoids prostaglandins) by monitoring characteristic mass fragment pairs for each molecule at their distinct retention times.

Approaches/skills and techniques

Approaches required include next generation proteomics, microRNA sequencing, Western blot, ELISA and PCR arrays and differential analytical techniques.

Outcomes

This project is aimed to identify the potential mechanisms by which cannabinoid treatment acts on neural cells. Advancing our knowledge in this area will be of direct benefit and clinical importance to our clinical colleagues /collaborative linkages who are actively using cannabinoid treatment for neurodevelopmental disorders.

Required skills and experience

• Interest and enthusiasm for biomedical research,
• Able to work in multidisciplinary team environment
• Knowledge of basic biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, and basic laboratory techniques will be an advantage.

Keywords

• neurological disorders
• cannabidiol
• inflammation

Contact

Contact the supervisor for more information: Professor Murray Mitchell.