Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Y-Aminobutyric Acid Inhibits Synergistic Interleukin-6 Release And Increases Intracellular Cytokine Content In C6 Astrocytoma Cells In Vitro, Daniella Sandoval, Becky M. Hess, Bryan L. Spangelo

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by memory loss and is the most common cause of dementia. It is has been hypothesized that pro-inflammatory cytokines induce the inflammation that is believed to be the cause of the neuronal death that is associated with AD. γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the Central Nervous System possessing membrane hyperpolarization or depolarization activities. A decline in GABA may enhance cytokine release in Alzheimer’s disease resulting in neuroinflammation. Therefore, we investigated the GABA-mediated suppression of the synergistic release of interleukin-6 (IL-6) induced by interleukin 1- (IL-1) and …