AUTHOR=Chang Aeson , Chung Ni-Chun , Lawther Adam J. , Ziegler Alexandra I. , Shackleford David M. , Sloan Erica K. , Walker Adam K. TITLE=The Anti-Inflammatory Drug Aspirin Does Not Protect Against Chemotherapy-Induced Memory Impairment by Paclitaxel in Mice JOURNAL=Frontiers in Oncology VOLUME=10 YEAR=2020 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2020.564965 DOI=10.3389/fonc.2020.564965 ISSN=2234-943X ABSTRACT=

Inflammation has been proposed to play a causal role in chemobrain which—if true—would represent an opportunity to repurpose existing anti-inflammatory drugs for the prevention and treatment of chemobrain. Here, we show that the chemoagent paclitaxel induces memory impairment and anhedonia in mice within 24 h of treatment cessation, but inflammation is not present until 2 weeks after treatment. We find no evidence of brain inflammation as measured by cytokine analysis at any time point. Furthermore, treating with aspirin to block inflammation did not affect paclitaxel-induced memory impairment. These findings suggest that inflammation may not be responsible for memory impairment induced by paclitaxel. These results contrast with recent findings of a causal role for inflammation in cancer-induced memory deficits in mice that were prevented by treatment with oral aspirin, suggesting that cognitive impairment in cancer patients undergoing treatment may arise from multiple convergent mechanisms.