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Microglia-Mediated Inflammation and Neurodegenerative Disease

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Abstract

Microglia are the main effectors in the inflammatory process of the central nervous system. As the first line of defense, microglia play an important role in the inflammatory reaction. When there is pathogen invasion or cell debris, microglia will be activated rapidly and remove it, while releasing the inflammatory cytokines to mediate inflammatory reaction. Activated microglia were found surrounding lesions of various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, muscular amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis. Microglia, the effectors of neuronal degeneration and necrosis, are involved in the removal of necrotic neurons. But over activated microglia may accelerate the process of some neurodegenerative diseases. Activated microglia can release cytotoxic factor and cytokines. Some of them may cause further damage to neuron, and some of them can regulate inflammatory cells to gather to the lesion. Microglia-mediated inflammation was considered to be the possible mechanism for the occurrence or deterioration of neurodegenerative diseases. Therefore, inhibiting the activity of microglia appropriately may be an effective way for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Liaoning Provincial Education Department Foundation of China (L2015030).

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    1. The Department of Neurology, Xin Hua Hospital Affiliated Dalian University, Dalian University, Dalian, 116021, China

      Ling Xu & Ying Bai

    2. Department of Cardiology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, 116022, China

      Dan He

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    Correspondence to Ying Bai.

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    Ling Xu and Dan He contributed equally to this work.

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    Xu, L., He, D. & Bai, Y. Microglia-Mediated Inflammation and Neurodegenerative Disease. Mol Neurobiol 53, 6709–6715 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12035-015-9593-4

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