Inflammation in the central nervous system (CNS), or neuroinflammation, is a key component of many neurological and neurodegenerative disorders characterized by lymphocyte/macrophage infiltration, glial activation, enhanced cytokine/chemokine production, demyelination and axonal loss (Sospedra and Martin, 2005; Pittock and Lucchinetti, 2007). The neuroinflammatory process is initiated by several receptors of the innate immune system, which recognize a diverse range of microbial and damage signals, coordinate protection and repair mechanisms.
