Effects of acute cannabidiol on behavior and the endocannabinoid system in HIV-1 Tat transgenic female and male mice

Background: Some evidence suggests that cannabidiol (CBD) has potential to help alleviate HIV symptoms due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Here we examined acute CBD effects on various behaviors and the endocannabinoid system in HIV Tat transgenic mice. Methods: Tat transgenic mice (female/male) were injected with CBD (3, 10, 30 mg/kg) and assessed for antinociception, activity, coordination, anxiety-like behavior, and recognition memory. Brains were taken to quantify endocannabinoids, cannabinoid receptors, and cannabinoid catabolic enzymes. Additionally, CBD and metabolite 7-hydroxy-CBD were quantified in the plasma and cortex. Results: Tat decreased supraspinal-related nociception and locomotion. CBD and sex had little to no effects on any of the behavioral measures. For the endocannabinoid system male sex was associated with elevated concentration of the proinflammatory metabolite arachidonic acid in various CNS regions, including the cerebellum that also showed higher FAAH expression levels for Tat(+) males. GPR55 expression levels in the striatum and cerebellum were higher for females compared to males. CBD metabolism was altered by sex and Tat expression. Conclusion: Findings indicate that acute CBD effects are not altered by HIV Tat, and acute CBD has no to minimal effects on behavior and the endocannabinoid system

Traumatic neonatal intracranial bleeding and stroke.

Ischaemia within the regions supplied by vertebral and posterior cerebral arteries has been described as a complication of birth injury, either by direct trauma or by compression from a herniated temporal uncus. Ischaemia within the territory of the middle cerebral artery has been documented after a stretch injury of the vessel's elastica interna. From a series of seven personal observations on birth trauma and related cerebral stroke, we describe three neonates with the uncal herniation type of occipital stroke and four infants with hypoperfusion of the middle cerebral artery or one of its major branches. In three of the latter a basal convexity subdural haemorrhage probably induced the ischaemia, whereas in the other it was associated with haemorrhagic contusion of the parietal lobe. Experimental work and reports on older children support the idea that vasospasm due to surrounding extravasated blood can be one of the responsible mechanisms. Both forceps delivery and difficult vacuum extraction can be implicated in this supratentorial injury, leading to permanent neurological damage in at least half of the survivors in this series

Alzheimer's disease risk polymorphisms regulate gene expression in the ZCWPW1 and the CELF1 loci

10.1371/journal.pone.0148717PLoS ONE112e014871