Plastics are inexpensive, durable, lightweight, versatile material composed of long hydrocarbon chains. These properties have led to widespread use of plastics particularly in single-use packaging. Unfortunately, this has caused a global plastic pollution problem with between 5 and 13 million tonnes of plastic entering our oceans annually. Microplastics are particles of submillimetre plastic. Microplastics have […]
Our understanding of the pathophysiological mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) remains relatively unclear; however, the role of neuroinflammation as a key etiological feature is now widely accepted due to the consensus of epidemiological, neuroimaging, preclinical and genetic evidence. Consequently, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) have been investigated in epidemiological and clinical studies as potential disease modifying agents. […]
The risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease (AD) increases dramatically as we age. Similarly, the common malnutrition of zinc deficiency is also more prevalent in the elderly more due to changes in diet and zinc absorption as we age. We have shown that zinc deficiency induces the secretion of the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in macrophages […]
Cannabis sativa is an herbaceous plant that when consumed produces a number of well-known effects on the body, primarily elicited by two G-protein coupled receptors: cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CBI) and type 2 (CBII). Activation of the CBII receptor suppresses the inflammatory response of the immune system. Research has suggested that inflammation can be pathological […]
During my research on early child asphyxia I found the rat model currently used in the literature produced highly variable injuries. After researching I hypothesized that the probable cause of these inconsistencies is the nature of the blood vessels in the brain. Like any blood vessel map they differ greatly between individuals. As an example, […]
Sepsis is the pathological presence of an infection in the blood or other tissue; it is commonly caused by bacterial infection and can lead to multiple organ failure and ultimately death. This area is of ever increasing importance as more and more cases of antibiotic resistance infections occur. However, in many cases it is […]
Immunohistochemistry is a specific protein stain that is used regularly throughout scientific research. Immunohistochemistry is a tissue stain that uses the specific binding of antibodies produced when an epitope (antigen or small segment of protein) is exposed to the immune cells of an animal from a different species. It involves the purification of a […]