Interleukins in Epilepsy:Friend or Foe

Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder with recurrent unprovoked seizures,affecting~65 million worldwide.Evidence in patients with epilepsy and animal models suggests a contribution of neuroinflammation to epileptogenesis and the development of epilepsy.Interleukins(ILs),as one of the major contributors to neuroinflammation,are intensively studied for their association and modulatory effects on ictogenesis and epileptogenesis.ILs are commonly divided into pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines and therefore are expected to be pathogenic or neuroprotective in epilepsy.However,both protective and destructive effects have been reported for many ILs.This may be due to the complex nature of ILs,and also possibly due to the different disease courses that those ILs are involved in.In this review,we summarize the contributions of different ILs in those processes and provide a current overview of recent research advances,as well as preclinical and clinical studies targeting ILs in the treatment of epilepsy.

Microglial Calcium Homeostasis Modulator 2:Novel Anti-neuroinflammation Target for the Treatment of Neurodegenerative Diseases

Neurodegenerative diseases,including Alzheimer's disease(AD)and Parkinson's disease(PD),are the most common causes of dementia.Current drugs for such diseases can only provide temporary help with the symptoms,leaving the discovery of new drugs urgently in need.Microglial cells are the local immune cells in the nervous system and have been recognized as the key player in neuroinflammation that contributes to the process of neurodegeneration[1],raising the discussion of aiming microglia as the therapeutic target for clinical treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

Hyperactivity of the Lateral Septum Leads to Hypersensitivity in Susceptible Mice

Everyone needs social interactions,not only humans but also most species.Positive social interaction feedback is a reward,promoting more social behaviors and acting as a stress buffer.On the contrary,negative social interactions such as school bullying may become a type of stress that leads to mental illnesses including anxiety and depression disorders.Chronic social defeat stress(CSDS)is a widely accepted social trauma model in rodents based on repeated social attacks,following which the defeated mice can be classified as susceptible(SUS)and resilient(RES)according to their social performance.