Emerging Role of the NLRP3 Inflammasome and Interleukin-1β in Neonates
Murwan Omer, Ashanty M. Melo, Lynne Kelly, Emma Jane Mac Dermott, Timothy Ronan Leahy, Orla Killeen, Ola Didrik Saugstad, Rashmin C. Savani, Eleanor J. Molloy
Abstract
Infection and persistent inflammation have a prominent role in the pathogenesis of brain injury and cerebral palsy, as well as other conditions associated with prematurity such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia. The NLRP3 inflammasome-interleukin (IL)-1β pathway has been extensively studied in adults and pre-clinical models, improving our understanding of innate immunity and offering an attractive therapeutic target that is already contributing to clinical management in many auto-inflammatory disorders. IL-1 blockade has transformed the course and outcome of conditions such as chronic infantile neurological, cutaneous, articular (CINCA/NOMID) syndrome. Inflammasome activation and upregulation has recently been implicated in neonatal brain and lung inflammatory disease and may be a novel therapeutic target.