There is an increasing recognition that inflammation plays a critical role in neurodegenerative diseases of the CNS, including Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and the prototypic neuroinflammatory disease multiple sclerosis (MS). Differential immune responses involving the adaptive versus the innate immune system are observed at various stages of neurodegenerative diseases, and may not only drive disease processes but could serve as therapeutic targets. Ongoing investigations into the specific inflammatory mechanisms that play roles in disease causation and progression have revealed lessons about inflammation-driven neurodegeneration that can be applied to other neurodegenerative diseases. An increasing number of immunotherapeutic strategies that have been successful in MS are now being applied to other neurodegenerative diseases. Some approaches suppress CNS immune mechanisms, while others harness the immune system to clear deleterious products and cells. This Review focuses on the mechanisms by which inflammation, mediated either by the peripheral immune response or by endogenous CNS immune mechanisms, can affect CNS neurodegeneration.

人们越来越认识到，炎症在中枢神经系统的神经退行性疾病中起着至关重要的作用，包括阿尔茨海默氏病，肌萎缩性侧索硬化症，帕金森氏病和原型神经炎性疾病多发性硬化症（MS）。在神经退行性疾病的各个阶段都观察到了涉及适应性免疫系统与先天性免疫系统的差异免疫反应，它们不仅可以驱动疾病进程，而且可以作为治疗靶点。正在进行的对在疾病的病因和进展中起作用的特定炎症机制的研究表明，炎症驱动的神经变性的经验教训可以应用于其他神经退行性疾病。在MS中成功的免疫疗法策略越来越多，现在正应用于其他神经退行性疾病。一些方法抑制中枢神经系统的免疫机制，而另一些方法则利用免疫系统清除有害的产物和细胞。这篇综述集中在炎症的机制上，由外周免疫反应或内源性中枢神经系统免疫机制介导的炎症可以影响中枢神经系统神经变性。