Vasculitis, Autoimmunity, and Cytokines: How the Immune System Can Harm the Brain

Alessandra Tesser, Alessia Pin, Elisabetta Mencaroni, Virginia Gulino and Alberto Tommasini
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Alessandra Tesser: Department of Pediatrics, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, 34137 Trieste, Italy
Alessia Pin: Department of Pediatrics, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, 34137 Trieste, Italy
Elisabetta Mencaroni: Department of Pediatrics, Ospedale Santa Maria Misericordia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Virginia Gulino: Family Pediatrician, Valnerina District, UslUmbria2, 06046 Norcia, Italy
Alberto Tommasini: Department of Pediatrics, Institute for Maternal and Child Health-IRCCS “Burlo Garofolo”, 34137 Trieste, Italy

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-17

Abstract: More and more findings suggest that neurological disorders could have an immunopathological cause. Thus, immune-targeted therapies are increasingly proposed in neurology (even if often controversial), as anakinra, inhibiting IL-1 for febrile inflammatory illnesses, and JAK inhibitors for anti-interferons treatment. Precision medicine in neurology could be fostered by a better understanding of the disease machinery, to develop a rational use of immuno-modulators in clinical trials. In this review, we focus on monogenic disorders with neurological hyper-inflammation/autoimmunity as simplified “models” to correlate immune pathology and targeted treatments. The study of monogenic models yields great advantages for the elucidation of the pathogenic mechanisms that can be reproduced in cellular/animal models, overcoming the limitations of biological samples to study. Moreover, monogenic disorders provide a unique tool to study the mechanisms of neuroinflammatory and autoimmune brain damage, in all their manifestations. The insight of clinical, pathological, and therapeutic aspects of the considered monogenic models can impact knowledge about brain inflammation and can provide useful hints to better understand and cure some neurologic multifactorial disorders.

Keywords: immune-mediated brain disorders; autoimmunity; autoinflammation; vasculitis; interferons; TNF?; IL-1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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