Elsevier

Neurotherapeutics

Volume 13, Issue 4, October 2016, Pages 661-670
Neurotherapeutics

Review
Inflammation and Stroke: An Overview

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13311-016-0483-xGet rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

Abstract

The immune response to acute cerebral ischemia is a major factor in stroke pathobiology and outcome. While the immune response starts locally in occluded and hypoperfused vessels and the ischemic brain parenchyma, inflammatory mediators generated in situ propagate through the organism as a whole. This “spillover” leads to a systemic inflammatory response first, followed by immunosuppression aimed at dampening the potentially harmful proinflammatory milieu. In this overview we will outline the inflammatory cascade from its starting point in the vasculature of the ischemic brain to the systemic immune response elicited by brain ischemia. Potential immunomodulatory therapeutic approaches, including preconditioning and immune cell therapy will also be discussed.

Keywords

Stroke
ischemia
inflammation
immune response
immunomodulation

Cited by (0)