Can CBD break the vicious cycle of chronic inflammation in Alzheimer?s Disease?

Alzheimer?s Disease currently affects ~10% of the United States population and continues to rise with an aging population. Alzheimer?s Disease progresses through stages, beginning with mild cognitive impairment and ultimately leading to severe and debilitating memory loss. Underlying these stages is a vicious cycle of chronic neuroinflammation that exacerbates and accelerates disease progression. Thus, there is a pressing need for therapeutic interventions that break the vicious cycle of neuroinflammation and stop the devastating progression of this disorder. Collaborative research in the Litwa and Soderstrom labs demonstrated that cannabidiol (CBD) has strong anti-inflammatory properties following brain injury. Our proposed research will generate a pre-clinical model of chronic neuroinflammation in Alzheimer?s Disease to similarly assess CBD?s therapeutic potential. This pre-clinical model will consist of human microglial cells, which drive neuroinflammation. Importantly, the strongest genetic risk factor for Alzheimer?s Disease, APOE4, increases inflammation. Thus, we will chronically expose both control microglia and microglia containing the APOE4 variant to disease-causing amyloid oligomers. Using this model, we will assess the therapeutic potential of CBD to stop neuroinflammation. These experiments will lay the foundation to address whether CBD-treated microglia can prevent subsequent neuronal loss and halt Alzheimer?s Disease progression.

Scholars @ ECU