Brains, bodies, bugs and balances: understanding and targeting neuroimmune mechanisms in stroke Event

Abstract: Stroke is a major cause of mortality and disability through both direct damage to the brain and complications arising in the brain (e.g. swelling) and elsewhere in the body (e.g. pneumonia). Neuroimmune mechanisms are increasingly recognised as involved in these various pathological sequelae. As in other tissues, inflammatory and immune activity may have harmful and beneficial effects on the brain after stroke. Systemic immunological activity is also markedly perturbed after stroke, including protective anti-microbial defence systems. There is therefore a complex brain and body-wide influence of the immune system on injury, repair and recovery after stroke. Successful therapeutic immunomodulatory approaches for stroke will need to account for this complexity. In this talk, I will present some of our recent work investigating how neuroimmune processes locally in the brain and systemically influence key determinants of stroke outcome and discuss their relevance for developing new therapeutic approaches.