Introduction:
Neuroinflammation has been linked to poor neurologic and functional outcomes in many
cerebrovascular disorders. Immune checkpoints are upregulated in the setting of
traumatic brain injury,
intracerebral hemorrhage,
ischemic stroke, central nervous systems
vasculitis, and post-hemorrhagic vasospasm, and are potential mediators of pathologic
inflammation. Burgeoning evidence suggests that immune checkpoint modulation is a promising treatment strategy to decrease immune cell recruitment,
cytokine secretion,
brain edema, and neurodegeneration.Areas covered: This review discusses the role of immune checkpoints in
neuroinflammation, and the potential for therapeutic immune checkpoint modulation in inflammatory
cerebrovascular disorders. A search of Pubmed and clinicaltrials.gov was performed to find relevant literature published within the last 50 years.Expert opinion: The clinical success of immune-activating checkpoint modulators in human
cancers has shown the immense clinical potential of checkpoint-based
immunotherapy. Given that checkpoint blockade can also precipitate a pathologic pro-inflammatory or autoimmune response, it is plausible that these pathways may also be targeted to quell aberrant
inflammation. A limited but growing number of studies suggest that immune checkpoints play a critical role in regulating the immune response in the central nervous system in a variety of contexts, and that immune-deactivating checkpoint modulators may be a promising treatment strategy for acute and chronic
neuroinflammation in
cerebrovascular disorders.