White matter damage is a component of most human
stroke and usually accounts for at least half of the lesion volume. Subcortical white matter
stroke (WMS) accounts for 25% of all
strokes and causes severe motor and
cognitive dysfunction. The adult brain has a very limited ability to repair white matter damage. Pathological analysis shows that
demyelination or myelin loss is the main feature of white matter injury and plays an important role in long-term sensorimotor and
cognitive dysfunction. This suggests that
demyelination is a major therapeutic target for
ischemic stroke injury. An acute inflammatory reaction is triggered by
brain ischemia, which is accompanied by
cytokine production. The production of
cytokines is an important factor affecting
demyelination and myelin regeneration. Different
cytokines have different effects on myelin damage and myelin regeneration. Exploring the role of
cytokines in
demyelination and remyelination after
stroke and the underlying molecular mechanisms of
demyelination and myelin regeneration after ischemic injury is very important for the development of rehabilitation treatment strategies. This review focuses on recent findings on the effects of
cytokines on myelin damage and remyelination as well as the progress of research on the role of
cytokines in
ischemic stroke prognosis to provide a new treatment approach for amelioration of white matter damage after
stroke.