Linking infection and inflammation in acute ischemic stroke.

Infections after ischemic stroke are known to complicate the clinical course and worsen the outcome. Neuroinflammation is one of the predominant mechanisms of secondary progression of brain injury and infection and is far from being well understood. Experimental data demonstrate that ischemic stroke patients are at a higher risk for systemic infections if they show a pronounced anti-inflammatory response after the event, which is considered an indication of a stress-mediated reduction of immune competence. Only a small number of studies describe the time course of inflammation mediators after ischemic stroke in patients with early poststroke infections. Levels of inflammation mediators after the event of stroke differ, depending on clinical severity and concomitant infectious diseases. Thus, sequential dynamics of early inflammation must be considered in the development of both mechanism-targeting anti-inflammatory and anti-infectious treatment strategies in ischemic brain damage.