Publications

Links to Latest Publications:

Pharmacological depletion of microglia protects against alcohol-induced corticolimbic neurodegeneration during intoxication in male rats
Effects of isolation stress and voluntary ethanol exposure during adolescence on ethanol and nicotine co-use in adulthood using male rats
Neuroimmune Activation and Microglia Reactivity in Female Rats Following Alcohol Dependence
Adolescent Intermittent Ethanol Drives Modest Neuroinflammation but Does Not Escalate Drinking in Male Rats
Sex differences in microglia function in aged rats underlie vulnerability to cognitive decline

Recent Reviews:

Carlson, E.R., Guerin, S.P., Nixon, K., & Fonken, L.K. (2023). The neuroimmune system – Where aging and excess alcohol intersect. Alcohol, 107:153-167; 10.1016/j.alcohol.2022.08.009. PMC10023388.

Melbourne, J.K., Chandler, C.M., Van Doorn, C., Pauly, J.R., Bardo, M.T., Peng, H., & Nixon, K. (2021). Primed for addiction: A critical review of the role of microglia in the neurodevelopmental consequences of adolescent alcohol drinking. Invited Critical Review for Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 45(10): 1908-1926; 10.1111/acer.14694. PMC8793635.

Select Data Papers:
Reactive Neurogenesis

Nawarawong, N.N., Thompson, K.R., Guerin, S.G., Peng, H., & Nixon, K. (2021). Reactive, adult neurogenesis from increased neural stem cell proliferation following alcohol dependence in female rats. New Insights into Adult Neurogenesis and Neurodegeneration: Challenges for Brain Repair, J.A. Morales-Garcia, N. Kaneko, V. Herranz-Pérez (Eds.), Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15: 689601; 10.3389/fnins.2021.689601. PMC8477003.

Nixon, K., Kim, D.H., Potts, E.N., He, J., & Crews, F.T. (2008). Distinct cell proliferation events during abstinence after alcohol dependence: microglia proliferation precedes neurogenesis. Neurobiology of Disease, 31(2): 218-229; 10.1016/j.nbd.2008.04.009. PMC2680247.

Nixon, K. & Crews, F.T. (2004). Temporally specific burst in cell proliferation increases hippocampal neurogenesis in protracted abstinence from alcohol. The Journal of Neuroscience, 24(43): 9714-9722; 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3063-04.2004. PMC6730141.

Nixon, K. & Crews, F.T. (2002). Binge alcohol exposure decreases neurogenesis in adult rat hippocampus. Journal of Neurochemistry, 83(5): 1087-1093; 10.1046/j.1471-4159.2002.01214.x. PMC exempt.

Microglia Reactivity

Melbourne, J. K., Wooden, J. I., Carlson, E. R., Anasooya Shaji, C., & Nixon, K. (2024). Neuroimmune Activation and Microglia Reactivity in Female Rats Following Alcohol Dependence. International journal of molecular sciences, 25(3), 1603; 10.3390/ijms25031603.

Peng, H., & Nixon, K. (2021). Microglia Phenotypes Following the Induction of Alcohol Dependence in Adolescent Rats. Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, 5(1): 105-116; 10.1111/acer.14504. PMC8296648.

Marshall, S.A.^†, McClain, J.A.^†, Wooden, J.I., & Nixon, K. (2020). Microglia dystrophy following binge-like alcohol exposure in adolescent and adult male rats. Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, 14: 52; 10.3389/fnana.2020.00052. PMC7439004. ^†authors contributed equally

McClain, J.A., Morris, S.A., Deeny, M.A., Marshall, S.A., Hayes, D.M., Kiser, Z.M., & Nixon, K. (2011). Adolescent binge alcohol exposure induces long-lasting partial activation of microglia. Supplemental Issue to Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Brain Behavior and Immunity, 25(Suppl 1): S120–S128; 10.1016/j.bbi.2011.01.006. PMC3098298.

Astrocyte Reactivity

Guerin, S.P., Melbourne, J.K., Dang, H.Q., Shaji, C.A., & Nixon, K. (2023). Astrocyte Reactivity and Neurodegeneration in the Female Rat Brain Following Alcohol Dependence. Neuroscience, 529:183-199; 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.08.016. PMC10810177.

Kelso, M.L., Liput, D.J., Eaves, D.W., & Nixon, K. (2011). Upregulation of vimentin suggests novel areas of neurodegeneration in a rodent model of an alcohol use disorder. Neuroscience, 197: 381-393; 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2011.09.019. PMC3298440.