Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2022, Vol. 17 ›› Issue (8): 1728-1730.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.332140

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Vascular inflammation in the central nervous system

Xinying Guo*, Zhen Zhao*   

  1. Center for Neurodegeneration and Regeneration, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute and Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA (Guo X, Zhao Z)
    Neuroscience Graduate Program, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA (Zhao Z)
  • Online:2022-08-15 Published:2022-01-21
  • Contact: Xinying Guo, MD,sarah_guoxy@163.com; Zhen Zhao, PhD,zzhao@usc.edu.
  • Supported by:
    The present work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Nos. R01AG061288, R03AG063287, R01NS110687, R21AG066090, and 1RF1NS122060, Bright Focus Foundation, No. A2019218S and U.S. Department of Defense grant No. W81XWH2010424 (to ZZ).

Abstract: Vasculature is the interface between tissue and circulation. It consists of endothelial cells, mural cells including vascular smooth muscle cells and pericytes, and other perivascular cells including macrophages and fibroblasts (Sweeney et al., 2019). The vascular system not only delivers oxygen and nutrients, but also shuttles the immune cells around. As the first line of defense, the vascular system also senses the changes in surrounding tissue, particularly inflammation. Vascular inflammation can occur in blood vessels of all sizes in any organ. It has a complex etiology, including infections such as coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19), and chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and neurodegenerative diseases (Hanafi et al., 2020). Excessive vascular inflammation is clinically known as vasculitis, diagnosed by blood test, imaging and biopsy. Vasculitis not only thickens the blood vessel wall, causing blood flow reduction and insufficient delivery of oxygen and nutrients, but also triggers inflammatory responses in secondary sites, or even the whole body.