Chen Fan, Xie Xuan, Wang Liang
Department of Neurosurgery, Tangdu Hospital of Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China.
Front Neurol. 2022 Mar 14;13:865714. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2022.865714. eCollection 2022.
The lymphatic system is an important part of the circulatory system, as an auxiliary system of the vein, which has the functions of immune defense, maintaining the stability of the internal environment, and regulating the pressure of the tissue. It has long been thought that there are no typical lymphatic vessels consisting of endothelial cells in the central nervous system (CNS). In recent years, studies have confirmed the presence of lymphatic vessels lined with endothelial cells in the meninges. The periventricular meninges of the CNS host different populations of immune cells that affect the immune response associated with the CNS, and the continuous drainage of interstitial and cerebrospinal fluid produced in the CNS also proceeds mainly by the lymphatic system. This fluid process mobilizes to a large extent the transfer of antigens produced by the CNS to the meningeal immune cells and subsequently to the peripheral immune system through the lymphatic network, with clinically important implications for infectious diseases, autoimmunity, and tumor immunology. In our review, we discussed recent research advances in intracranial lymphatic circulation and the pathogenesis of its associated diseases, especially the discovery of meningeal lymphatic vessels, which has led to new therapeutic targets for the treatment of diseases associated with the intracranial lymphatic system.
淋巴系统是循环系统的重要组成部分，作为静脉的辅助系统，具有免疫防御、维持内环境稳定和调节组织压力的功能。长期以来，人们一直认为中枢神经系统（CNS）中不存在由内皮细胞组成的典型淋巴管。近年来，研究证实脑膜中存在内衬内皮细胞的淋巴管。CNS的脑室周围脑膜容纳不同群体的免疫细胞，这些细胞影响与CNS相关的免疫反应，CNS中产生的间质液和脑脊液的持续引流也主要通过淋巴系统进行。这个液体过程在很大程度上促进了CNS产生的抗原向脑膜免疫细胞的转移，随后通过淋巴网络转移到外周免疫系统，这对传染病、自身免疫和肿瘤免疫学具有重要的临床意义。在我们的综述中，我们讨论了颅内淋巴循环及其相关疾病发病机制的最新研究进展，特别是脑膜淋巴管的发现，这为治疗与颅内淋巴系统相关的疾病带来了新的治疗靶点。
