Epilepsia
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Inflammatory reactions occur in the brain in various CNS diseases, including autoimmune, neurodegenerative, and epileptic disorders. Proinflammatory and antiinflammatory cytokines and related molecules have been described in CNS and plasma, in experimental models of seizures and in clinical cases of epilepsy. Inflammation involves both the innate and the adaptive immune systems and shares molecules and pathways also activated by systemic infection. ⋯ However, inflammatory reactions in brain also can be beneficial, depending on the tissue microenvironment, the inflammatory mediators produced in injured tissue, the functional status of the target cells, and the length of time the tissue is exposed to inflammation. We provide an overview of the current knowledge in this field and attempt to bridge experimental and clinical evidence to discuss critically the possibility that inflammation may be a common factor contributing, or predisposing, to the occurrence of seizures and cell death, in various forms of epilepsy of different etiologies. The elucidation of this aspect may open new perspectives for the pharmacologic treatment of seizures.