DO CHEMOKINES MEDIATE LEUKOCYTE RECRUITMENT IN POSTTRAUMATIC CNS INFLAMMATION

Hematogenous leukocytes infiltrate the CNS after inflammatory stimuli, including infection, mechanical trauma and excitotoxic neuronal necro sis. However,the role of leukocytic inflammation in promoting or hinde ring tissue repair is poorly understood. Identification of signals tha t lead to leukocyte recruitment and activation is essential for the de signing of interventions that modulate inflammation, thus improving ne urological outcome. Chemokines are small pleiotropic chemoattractant c ytokines whose target specificity suggests an important role in determ ining the cellular composition of inflammatory infiltrates. Chemokine expression profiles in the CNS during autoimmune and post-traumatic in flammation correlate well with the composition of leukocyte infiltrate s, and expression studies in systems such as transgenic mice, suggest that chemokines have potent functional attributes in CNS physiology. W e propose that selective chemokine expression by CNS cells is crucial for post-traumatic leukocyte accumulation.