The physiological and pathophysiological role of microparticles in central nervous system diseases

Introduction: Microparticles (MPs) are a heterogeneous population of small cell-derived vesicles. The composition is influenced by the cellular origin and the cellular processes starting their formation. The MPs have various biochemical composition, depending on the site in which they originate: from platelets or endothelium, MPs are involved in many disease, in particular in cardiovascular disease but also in cancer and in central nervous system disease. They are involved in many cellular processes and in particular in apoptosis and in cellular rearrangement. MPs could promote the recruitment of more immune cells in vascular inflammatory areas. Material and method: We performed a data literature analysis from PubMed. We analyze data from multiple studies, reporting that in central nervous system (CNS), the MPs have an important biological role, they can be derived from platelets, endothelial cells, neurons or glial cells. RESULT: We found that the CNS cells in the neurovascular unit, including the endothelial lining and neural cells are also subject to stress by a variety of stimuli such as oxygen radicals and inflammation. Indeed, it is induced membrane shedding in vascular cells. For these reasons, it is possible that the shedding in the neurovascular network may be linked not only to the development and progression of various CNS diseases, but also to the physiological development of the nervous system. In fact, the MPs attend, also, to a regeneration and repair of nerve injury. The MPs are involved in neuroimmune response, indeed, during the various negative stimuli, the microglial release a MPs containing pro-inflammatory cytokines. The MPs can be considered as a biomarkers from a specific tissue undergoing activation or damage. The plasma membrane is considerate as a sensor of cell interactions with the microenvironment. Conclusion: Given these evidences, we can conclude that the releasing of MPs is an indicator of a physiological and/ or pathophysiological activation in CNS, and then these vesicles are strongly involved in various CNS disease such as stoke, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease.