Neuroinflammation and CNS Disorders

The last decade has seen an upsurge of information on the role of immune responses in neurodegenerative disorders. In many of these diseases it is still unclear whether the innate and adaptive responses are pathogenic or play a role in repair, and thus understanding their precise roles is key to controlling these diseases by designing immune-therapeutic approaches. The connection between many neurological diseases is the realisation that the immune and nervous systems are inextricable linked, and that perturbations in this delicate balance are involved in many disorders. This has opened up new avenues for therapeutic approaches to treatment of CNS inflammatory and neurodegenerative disorders. Neuroinflammation and CNS Disorders brings together the very latest information on the interactions between the immune system and central nervous system. The first section of the book highlights the basic concepts in the field whilst the second section, the main body of the book, covers the role of the immune response in specific disorders of the central nervous system. Neuroinflammation and CNS Disorders will provide an invaluable guide for both researchers and clinicians working in this complex and dynamic field.

Introduction

Chapter 1: Immune privilege of the brain

Chapter 2: Innate Immunity in the CNS – A Focus on the Myeloid Cell

Chapter 3: Adaptive Immune Responses in the CNS

Chapter 4: Ageing and the immune response in the CNS

Chapter 5: Brain repair: The role of endogenous and transplanted neural stem cells

Chapter 6: Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s Diseases

Chapter 7: CNS Infections

Chapter 8: Neuroimmunology of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Chapter 9: Demyelinating Disorders of the CNS

Chapter 10: Other autoimmune disorders: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Primary Sjögren’s syndrome, Gluten-related Neurological Dysfunction and Paraneoplastic Neurological Syndromes

Chapter 11: Inflammation in the pathogenesis of depression

Chapter 12: Immune responses in the CNS in Epilepsy

Chapter 13: Inflammatory Mediators and Dysfunction of the Neurovascular Unit following Ischaemia Reperfusion

Chapter 14: Spinal cord injury

Chapter 15: Immune Responses to Tumours in the CNS

Index

Nicola Woodroofe is Professor of Neuroimmunology and Head of the Biomedical Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, UK.

Sandra Amor is Professor, Multiple Sclerosis Research Group, Neuropathology, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, The Netherlands.