Sarah Latchney, assistant professor of biology and neuroscience, has recently been published in Neuroscience Letters titled, “Acute 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin exposure in adult mice does not alter the morphology or inflammatory response of cortical microglia.”
In this article, Latchney and colleagues examined the neural response of cortical microglia, cells that function as resident immune cells within the brain, following exposure to the ubiquitous environmental chemical, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), in the context of direct tissue injury. While TCDD has previously been shown to suppress peripheral immune responses, results of this current research demonstrate that resident immune cells of the brain may inhabit a privileged immune environment that may buffer the impact of external toxic stimuli. These results also lay the groundwork for future studies to examine the potential impact of environmental exposure during sensitive developmental periods when microglia are being established within the confines of the blood-brain barrier.
