After a stroke, there is inflammation in the damaged part of the brain. Until now, the inflammation has been seen as a negative consequence that needs to be abolished as soon as possible. But, as it turns out, there are also some positive sides to the inflammation, and it can actually help the brain to self-repair.
"This is in total contrast to our previous beliefs", says Professor Zaal Kokaia from Lund University in Sweden.
Zaal Kokaia, together with Professor of Neurology Olle Lindvall, runs a research group at the Lund Stem Cell Center that, in collaboration with colleagues at the Weizmann Institute in Israel, is responsible for these findings. Hopefully, these new data will lead to new ways of treating stroke in the future. The study was recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience.
When stroke occurs, the nerve cells in the damaged area of the brain die, causing an inflammation that attracts cells from the immune system. Among them you find monocytes—a type of white blood cells produced in the bone marrow.
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False-colored scanning electron micrograph of a blood clot. There are many red blood cells and
a single white blood cell held together in a meshwork of fibrin (brown).
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