Inflammatory processes have recently been found to be involved in the etiopathology of most neurological diseases. This does not only account for the classical neuroimmunological diseases such as multiple sclerosis, but also to diseases like Alzheimer's disease, ALS, epilepsy, movement disorders, stroke and migraine, conditions previously considered as “non-inflammatory”. The normal adult central nervous system contains low or undetectable levels of most systemic inflammatory cells.
In classic inflammatory disorders of the CNS, such as multiple sclerosis, various immune cells including T and B lymphocytes invade CNS from the outside, activating microglia on the inside. In acute insults such as traumatic brain injuries, stroke, and after long-lasting epileptic seizures, markers of inflammation are increased within minutes, followed by a cascade of immunologically induced changes. But…
