Contribution of Neuro-inflammation to Cerebral Ischaemia

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Inflammation is our bodies' response to infection and injury. It is characterised by redness, swelling, and heat and requires recruitment of cells from the blood to an infected or injured area. Typically inflammation is a beneficial response. However, a failure to switch off an inflammatory response, or for it to resolve, can lead to chronic or inappropriate inflammation. This can result in the death of healthy cells and tissue. As we age the bodies control of how it regulates inflammation begins to diminish. Therefore when our bodies are challenged by an injury or an infection they fail to cope efficiently. Much research on mechanisms of inflammation has been carried out with respect to many types of infection and injury in many organs and great progress has been made. However, how inflammation is regulated in the brain is far less studied and we do not currently understand how the responses are coordinated. The main aim of this proposal is to understand the regulation of inflammation in the brain. We have access to mice in which specific parts of the inflammatory response have been removed, or knocked out. Using these mice we can examine the inflammatory response in the brain after an injury such as caused by stroke. This will give us information on the specific reactions that occur and their consequence. Brain inflammation has a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of the population, and particularly so for people of old age. Thus understanding how the brain regulates inflammation could lead to new strategies to treat brain injury and disease.