Polarization of microglia and its role in bacterial sepsis

Microglial polarization in response to brain inflammatory conditions is a crescent field in neuroscience. However, the effect of systemic inflammation, and specifically sepsis, is a relatively unexplored field that has great interest and relevance. Sepsis has been associated with both early and late harmful events of the central nervous system, suggesting that there is a close link between sepsis and neuroinflammation. During sepsis evolution it is supposed that microglial could exert both neurotoxic and repairing effects depending on the specific microglial phenotype assumed. In this context, here it was reviewed the role of microglial polarization during sepsis-associated brain dysfunction. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.