Chapter 33 - Modeling neurotoxin-induced neuroinflammation with chemotherapy

Abstract

Chemo brain refers to the development of cognitive impairment after chemotherapy treatment. A drug toxicity might last for months to years after the completion of chemotherapy course and affects the general well-being of cancer survivors. Multiple studies were developed to study the underlying mechanism for such adverse reaction. Neuroinflammation was shown as a key contributor to the development of chemotherapy-induced cognitive deficits. The majority of the preclinical studies employed a single chemotherapeutic agent for the induction of neuroinflammation in order to study the mechanisms of neurotoxicity related to the specific type of chemotherapy. Meanwhile, only few studies included combination therapies which truly mimic the current treatment regimens in the clinical setting. This chapter highlights animal models of neuroinflammation induced by chemotherapy with particular focus on doxorubicin, cisplatin, cyclophosphamide, and methotrexate-induced chemo brain.