# Bioactive Lipid Mediators Core (BLMC)

> **NIH NIH P30** · TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $323,513

## Abstract

The Bioactive Lipid Mediators Core (BLMC) is designed to support the ongoing work of affiliated scientists
aiming to understand the systemic and neurophysiological outcomes of chronic drug use on lipid signaling.
The focus on lipid biomarkers targets an emerging field that has unique promise to add a novel framework
for understanding how lipid signaling in a wide range of tissues (e.g., plasma, CNS, liver, breast milk) is
related to homeostatic dysregulation associated with the development and maintenance of drug use
disorders. The Bradshaw lab has developed lipid extraction and analytical techniques aimed specifically at
small molecule lipid metabolites like the endocannabinoids, lipoamines, prostaglandins, leukotrienes, and
resolvins. These classes of lipids of have been shown to change in response to exposure to drugs of abuse
and understanding this regulation has the potential to provide unique insight into how both acute and chronic
drug use drives both systemic and central nervous system changes. This understanding would then drive
the discovery of novel therapies to treat drug addiction. We will accomplish this by 1) Evaluation of plasma
lipidomics patterns in multiple drug abuse models. Using animal models of drug use (THC, opioids, alcohol)
we will use our optimized analytical techniques for analysis of bioactive lipid metabolite signaling molecules
in plasma to determine how acute and chronic drug exposure causes systemic changes in these lipid
classes. This analysis technique will then be used to determine how endogenous cannabinoid and related
lipid signaling molecules changes in different disease states (PTSD, concussion, drug addiction) in human
plasma. 2) Analyze sex difference in bioactive lipids in in targeted areas of the CNS with chronic drug use
as a function of genetic sex. This will provide a novel framework to evaluate unique characteristics across
and between drug models and sex. 3) Identification of changes in bioactive lipids in breast milk with
exposure to drugs of abuse (THC, opioids). Lipidomics analysis of breastmilk in rodent models of drug use
(THC, opioids) will provide a clearer understanding on how the presence of these drugs changes the lipid
profile of breastmilk in a way that may have long term health consequences for offspring. 4) Develop data
science analytical techniques of bioactive lipid metabolites to drive novel hypotheses on how drugs of abuse
cause changes in systemic and CNS lipid signaling. Coupling the power of increasingly powerful analytical
techniques with novel data mining and cluster analyses developed in-house will provide the field with new
tools for interpreting lipid metabolomic information. 5) Increase the pipeline for underrepresented minority
(URM) students for careers in STEM with a focus on lipidomic mass spectrometric techniques. In
partnership with minority serving programs at IU, URM students will be provided unique opportunities for
training and research that are tailored to the ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10898850
- **Project number:** 5P30DA056410-02
- **Recipient organization:** TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Heather Bryte Bradshaw
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $323,513
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-15 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10898850

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10898850, Bioactive Lipid Mediators Core (BLMC) (5P30DA056410-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10898850. Licensed CC0.

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