Tumour necrosis factor - ALPHA mediated mechanisms of cognitive dysfunction

Abstract

Background: Tumour necrosis factor - alpha (TNF-α) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that combines a plethora of activities in the early stages of an immune response. TNF-α has gained increasing importance given TNF-α upregulation in multiple brain pathologies like neuropsychiatric conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, as well as neuroinflammatory disorder like multiple sclerosis (MS). Aim: The aim of this review is to critically analyse neurobiological, immunological and molecular mechanisms through which TNF-α influences the development of cognitive dysfunction. Principal findings/results: The review presents several lines of original research showing that the immunological properties..