"Lipopolysaccharide-induced animal models for neuroinflammation – An overview."

Neuroinflammation is a pathological mechanism contributing to neurodegenerative diseases. For in-depth studies of neuroinflammation, several animal models reported reproducing behavioral dysfunctions and cellular pathological mechanisms induced by brain inflammation. One of the most popular models of neuroinflammation is the one generated by lipopolysaccharide exposure. Despite its importance, the reported results using this model show high heterogeneity, making it difficult to analyze and compare the outcomes between studies. Therefore, the current review aims to summarize the different experimental paradigms used to reproduce neuroinflammation by lipopolysaccharide exposure and its respective outcomes, helping to choose the model that better suits each specific research aim. The figure resumes the overall neuroinflammatory response to the exposure to LPS. [Display omitted] •LPS-induced neuroinflammation models are heterogeneous.•Administration routes induces variable behavioral and biochemical outputs.•Animal age influences behavioral and biochemical outputs induced by LPS.•LPS-Induced neuroinflammation varies with animal sex.