Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2013:2013:480739.
doi: 10.1155/2013/480739. Epub 2013 Aug 12.

Cytokines and chemokines at the crossroads of neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and neuropathic pain

Geeta Ramesh  1 , Andrew G MacLean, Mario T Philipp
Affiliations
Review

Cytokines and chemokines at the crossroads of neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and neuropathic pain

Geeta Ramesh et al. Mediators Inflamm. 2013.

Abstract

Cytokines and chemokines are proteins that coordinate the immune response throughout the body. The dysregulation of cytokines and chemokines is a central feature in the development of neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and demyelination both in the central and peripheral nervous systems and in conditions of neuropathic pain. Pathological states within the nervous system can lead to activation of microglia. The latter may mediate neuronal and glial cell injury and death through production of proinflammatory factors such as cytokines and chemokines. These then help to mobilize the adaptive immune response. Although inflammation may induce beneficial effects such as pathogen clearance and phagocytosis of apoptotic cells, uncontrolled inflammation can result in detrimental outcomes via the production of neurotoxic factors that exacerbate neurodegenerative pathology. In states of prolonged inflammation, continual activation and recruitment of effector cells can establish a feedback loop that perpetuates inflammation and ultimately results in neuronal injury. A critical balance between repair and proinflammatory factors determines the outcome of a neurodegenerative process. This review will focus on how cytokines and chemokines affect neuroinflammation and disease pathogenesis in bacterial meningitis and brain abscesses, Lyme neuroborreliosis, human immunodeficiency virus encephalitis, and neuropathic pain.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Central role of microglia in neuroinflammation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Vilcek J. The cytokines: an overview. In: Angus W, Thomson MTL, editors. The Cytokine Handbook. 4th edition. San Diego, Calif, USA: Academic Press; pp. 1–18.
    1. Walz A, Peveri P, Aschauer H, Baggiolini M. Purification and amino acid sequencing of NAF, a novel neutrophil-activating factor produced by monocytes. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 1987;149(2):755–761. - PubMed
    1. Yoshimura T, Matsushima K, Oppenheim JJ, Leonard EJ. Neutrophil chemotactic factor produced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated human blood mononuclear leukocytes: partial characterization and separation from interleukin 1 (IL 1) Journal of Immunology. 1987;139(3):788–793. - PubMed
    1. Moser B, Loetscher P. Lymphocyte traffic control by chemokines. Nature Immunology. 2001;2(2):123–128. - PubMed
    1. Devi LA. G-protein-coupled receptor dimers in the lime light. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences. 2000;21(9):324–326. - PubMed

Publication types