Neuroinflammation and Cardio-Respiratory Circuits
This study aims to understand how neuroinflammation affects the neural control of respiration.
Inflammation of the central nervous system (CNS) develops in both systemic infection as well as sterile lung injury. This neuro-inflammation mirrors systemic inflammation and affects the neural control of respiration.
The researchers have published that peripheral inflammation evokes neuro-inflammation, decreases synaptic efficacy of vagal sensory feedback and increases the predictability of ventilatory pattern variability (VPV). Thus, the team has an overall perspective of the effects of systemic inflammation on respiratory control at molecular and functional levels, but the effects at the level of the respiratory network activity remain obscure.
Researchers’ hypothesis is that brainstem neuro-inflammation alters synaptic strengths in the respiratory network which suppresses reflex modulation of the respiratory pattern to decrease ventilatory pattern variability.
The team’s data indicate that neuro-inflammation of the brainstem respiratory network drives changes in VPV in these disease processes.
Researchers will apply recent advances in multi-electrode array technology and analysis to map respiratory local field potentials and investigate where and how peripheral inflammation maladapts central- and sensory-modulated respiratory pattern formation. The team will also generate immuno-histochemical maps of the distribution of key early pro-inflammatory cytokines in the brainstem. Investigators will use this innovative approach to quantitatively investigate the impact of systemic and neuro-inflammation on the function of an intact neural network.
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Principal Investigator: Frank Jacono PhD