Main description:

A cutting-edge review of the fundamental biological principles underlying the more common inflammatory disorders of the nervous system. The authors provide extensive updates on the latest findings concerning the mechanisms of inflammation and introduce such new concepts and methodologies as "endothelial and leukocyte microparticles" and "gene microarray technology" to help explain important links between the central nervous system (CNS) and general inflammatory processes. Among the diseases examined from an inflammatory perspective are multiple sclerosis, acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, optic neuritis, transverse myelitis, CNS vasculitis, neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosis, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease. The role of the immune system in neuroinflammation is also explored in such disorders as neurosarcoidois, HIV-Associated dementia, and HTLV-associated neurological disorders.

Contents:

Endothelial Cell-Leukocyte Interactions During CNS Inflammation
J. Steven Alexander and Alireza Minagar

Multiple Sclerosis: A Disease of Miscommunication Between the Immune and Central Nervous Systems?
Monica J. Carson, Crystal S. Anglen, and Corinne Ploix

Cytokines and Brain: Health and Disease
Tammy Kielian and Paul D. Drew

Chemokines and Central Nervous System Disorders
William J. Karpus

Circulating Cell-Derived Microparticles in Thrombotic and Inflammatory Disorders
Wenche Jy, Lawrence L. Horstman, Joaquin J. Jimenez, Alireza Minagar, and Yeon S. Ahn

Multiple Sclerosis: Clinical Features, Immunopathogenesis, and Clinical Management
William A. Sheremata

Neuroprotective Effects of Interferon-b in Multiple Sclerosis
Fabrizio Giuliani, Rana Zabad, and V. Wee Yong

Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis
Sean J. Pittock and Dean M. Wingerchuk

Ingested Type I Interferon in Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis
Staley A. Brod

Neuromyelitis Optica
Dean M. Wingerchuk

Transverse Myelitis: Clinical Manifestations, Pathogenesis, and Management
Chitra Krishnan, Adam I. Kaplin, Deepa M. Deshpande, Carlos A. Pardo, and Douglas A. Kerr

Optic Neuritis: Pathogenesis, Immunology, Diagnosis, and Clinical Management
Robert Zivadinov and Rohit Bakshi

Central Nervous System Vasculitis: Pathogenesis, Immunology, and Clinical Management
Shariq Mumtaz, Marjorie R. Fowler, Eduardo Gonzales-Toledo, and Roger E. Kelley

Neurosarcoidosis: Pathogenesis, Immunology, and Clinical Management
Dakshinamurty Gullapalli and Lawrence H. Phillips, II

Neuropsychiatric SLE: Pathogenesis, Immunology, and Clinical Management
Deborah Aleman-Hoey and Robin L. Brey

Gene Expression in HIV-Associated Dementia
Paul Shapshak, Alireza Minagar, Elda M. Duran, Fabiana Ziegler, Wade Davis, Raman Seth, and Toni Kazic

Human T-Lymphotropic Virus-Associated Neurological Disorders: Pathogenesis, Immunology, and Clinical Management
Michael D. Lairmore, Bindhu Michael, Lee Silverman, and Amrithraj Nair

West Nile Virus Infection of the Nervous System: Pathogenesis, Immunology, and Clinical Management
Douglas J. Lanska

Index