ESR 10 Assessment of medical marijuana bioactive substances in a mouse model of neuropathic pain

Project Title: Assessment of medical marijuana bioactive substances in a mouse model of neuropathic pain


Early Stage Researcher 10 – Christiana Dumbraveanu

Individual Research Project 10
Project Title: Assessment of medical marijuana bioactive substances in a mouse model of neuropathic pain
Supervisor: Dipl.-Ing. A. Neumann (Bionorica)
Co-supervisor(s): Prof. M. Kress (MUI) and Prof. F. Turkheimer (KCL)

Project Manager Tobeatpain

Dipl.-Ing. A. Neumann (Bionorica)

Project Manager Tobeatpain

Prof. M. Kress (MUI)

Project Manager Tobeatpain

Prof. F. Turkheimer (KCL)

Objectives


Although pharmacological targeting of peripherally expressed cannabinoid CB1 receptors has pronounced analgesic effects and CB2 receptor activation suppresses neuroinflammation in the CNS, the use of medical marijuana is still limited mainly because, apart from tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), its active components have not been studied in sufficient detail. This project will evaluate the bioavailability of medical marijuana bioactive substances (MMBS) of cannabis sativa plant extracts in peripheral blood, DRG, spinal cord and brain.

ESR 10 will:

  1. Characterise the analgesic action of MMBS preparations with and without THC and CBD in the spared nerve injured (SNI) mouse model for neuropathic pain;
  2. Isolate blood, DRG, peripheral nerve, spinal cord and brain of MMBS treated versus non-treated neuropathic mice measure cytokine profiles in these tissues (ELISA), and perform microglia and macrophage analysis in DRG, spinal cord and brain sections (IHC and FACS);
  3. Assess bioavailability of MMBS (LS-MS) in the aforementioned tissues and correlate with analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects.

Expected results


Definition of MMBS effects on functional and inflammatory signatures associated with experimental neuropathic pain.

Secondment(s): KCL (4 months). Flow cytometry analysis of macrophages and microglia.

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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 764860.