Neuroinflammation in neurodegeneration: role in pathophysiology, therapeutic opportunities and clinical perspectives

Excerpt

Accumulating evidence support that chronic innate neuroinflammation mediated by microglia and astrocytes is a common feature across neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), frontotemporal dementia (FTD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and play a complex role in their pathophysiology. Whereas in healthy conditions microglia display key beneficial functions that are crucial for maintaining CNS homeostasis, their chronic activation in neurodegeneration results in their altered functionality, which is thought to ultimately play an instrumental detrimental role in disease pathogenesis. Strategies targeting such neuroinflammatory processes are currently a strongly and rapidly emerging field of research in the quest for innovative therapeutic approaches in AD and other neurodegenerative disorders. In this special issue gathering key experts and opinion leaders in the field, authors provide overviews focusing on the cellular and molecular bases of neuroinflammatory processes in neurodegeneration, their complex detrimental and beneficial roles in disease pathophysiology, and their growing and promising interest as potential targets for innovative therapeutic approaches as well as new molecular imaging biomarkers of relevant clinical interest. …