Tereance A. Myers,
Deepak Kaushal,
Mario T. Philipp
Gepubliceerd: 13 November, 2009
http://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/ ... at.1000659
Discussion
Neuroinflammation is thought to be a contributing factor in a number of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis, as well as in Lyme neuroborreliosis [6],[7],[31],[65]. Inflammatory mediator levels are often elevated in these disorders suggesting that they are actively involved in the disease process [2],[6],[31],[66]. Because neurological symptoms do occur in many patients with Lyme disease, and cognitive impairment is often a part of this scenario, it was important to discover which mediators likely caused the effects of B. burgdorferi-induced damage in neurons. We hypothesized that the inflammatory environment generated during a possible in vivo exposure of glial cells to B. burgdorferi could harm neurons through a bystander effect. To address this hypothesis, we used in vitro experiments to demonstrate that with regard to microglia, astrocytes, and neurons, the fundamental triumvirate of cells in the CNS, it was the microglia that most aggressively responded to interaction with B. burgdorferi. In addition to inducing a pronounced and sustained production of cytokines and chemokines in microglial cells, B. burgdorferi also activated important inflammatory signaling pathways in these cells. Together, these responses potentially contributed to creating a reactive environment that was toxic to the SY cells. Interestingly, we also found that in addition to inducing SY cell apoptosis through a bystander effect, there might be a requirement for direct cell-cell contact between microglia and neurons for end-stage damage to occur.
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Wat zijn Microglia?
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microglia
De microglia bestaat uit cellen die de macrofagen van het centrale zenuwstelsel zijn. Dit zijn vrij kleine cellen met een vrij kleine kern en met in hun cytoplasma talrijke lysosomen en andere insluitsels die ook in andere macrofagen worden aangetroffen.
Ze komen voor in zowel de witte als de grijze stof van het centrale zenuwstelsel
Ze zorgen voor een afweersysteem van de hersenen, dit door middel van het continue scannen op eventuele schade of lichaamsvreemde stoffen en verwijderen dood weefsel.