[Seminar] Dr.Sylvia Fitting "The Endocannabinoid System: A helping HAND"

<Speaker>
Dr.Sylvia Fitting (Professor, Department of Psychology & Neuroscience University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC, USA)

<Title>
The Endocannabinoid System: A helping HAND

<Abstract>
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a major global public health issue with approximately 39 million people currently living with HIV. While antiretroviral therapy has significantly increased survival rates and quality of life, neurological complications, also known as HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), continue to persist. The Fitting research group incorporates a multidisciplinary approach in rodent models to examine the cellular, functional, and behavioral mechanisms involved in the neurotoxic consequences of HIV proteins on the central nervous system and the role of the endocannabinoid system. The endocannabinoid system is centrally involved in maintaining and restoring brain homeostasis and has attracted considerable attention as a promising therapeutic target in numerous neurodegenerative diseases. This presentation will highlight recent findings from our laboratory that shed light on potential therapeutic strategies to target the endocannabinoid system and mitigate HIV-induced neurotoxicity, neuroinflammation, and HAND. This will include the use of highly selective inhibitors of enzymes responsible for endocannabinoid degradation as well as use of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD), which are the main components of the cannabis plant.