Astrocytes may also be involved in the response. The problem is that immunologists, for the past 15 years, have been unwilling to recognize that the brain does not require infiltrating T cells to respond to antigens—it has its own immune system, the glia. Exactly how it works is still a mystery, but this failed clinical trial is positive evidence that it does.
A better approach to treatment might be to block the cytokines produced by the already occurring immune response—such cytokines as tumor necrosis factor have already been shown to interfere with nervous system transmission and, hence, memory.
