The Role of Microglial Cells on Neuroinflammation: Possible Therapeutic Applications

Microglial cells are tissue macrophages of the central nervous system, with important role in surveillance and in the clearance of dead cells and extracellular matrix. Despite their role in the homeostasis of the central nervous system, microglial cells have also been correlated to several pathological findings, such as those observed in Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer disease, stroke and many others. Microglia are able to secrete several pro-inflammatory molecules which may greatly account for the establishment of focal lesions. On the other hand, these cells may also express molecules with suppressive characteristics, as TGF-β, IL-10 and IDO. This raises the idea that microglia may also exert immunomodulatory functions as an attempt to dampen central nervous system inflammation. We review some aspects of microglial biology, such as ontogeny, phenotype, gene transcription and specially its role in several different neurological inflammatory diseases. This review discusses patents of several pharmaceutical compounds with actions on microglial cells which have the aim of controlling neuroinflammation. Some patents are about new pharmaceutical compounds that are not in clinical use while others propose new applications for drugs already use in clinical practice. Finally, some patents focus on cell therapy and new routes for drugs application.