title: Nervous system involvement in clinical peripheral inflammation: A description of three pediatric cases.
abstract: Latest research data have emphasized the interaction between the nervous and the immune systems. In this regard, it has been demonstrated that the disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) secondary to peripheral inflammation may play a key role in this relationship. This assumption is linked to recent findings according to which units that constitute the BBB are not only simply neurologic but have also been reconsidered as "neurovascular" elements, through which immune system molecules are vehiculated within the central nervous system (CNS). Herein, we report two cases of food allergy (FA) and one case of infective gastroenteritis, associated with a spectrum of neurologic disorders involving both the CNS and the peripheral nervous system (PNS), postulating some etiopathogenic hypotheses to explain the link between peripheral inflammation and diseases of the nervous system (NS). Three pediatric cases of secondary NS involvement after gastrointestinal (GI) inflammation of different nature have been reported. The first case highlights the link between FA and CNS; the second one is based on a description of a link between GI infection and CNS involvement while the third one describes the relationship between FA and PNS. The importance of these reports relies on the clinical demonstration of a link between the immune system and the NS. The relationship between immune system and NS seems to have pleiotropic aspects, involving different areas of the NS, such as CNS and PNS, which also seem to be in some way interconnected.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Paediatrics and Neonates, Paediatric Operative Unit and Acute and Emergency, Vittorio Emanuele University Hospital, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vitaliti
authors.affiliation: Department of General Paediatrics and Neonates, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Omidreza
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tabatabaie
authors.affiliation: Department of General Paediatrics and Neonates, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Nassim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matin
authors.affiliation: Department of General Paediatrics and Neonates, Paediatric and Neonatal Operative Unit, Gravina Hospital, Caltagirone, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni Roberto
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Giugno
authors.affiliation: Department of General Paediatrics and Neonates, Paediatric Operative Unit and Acute and Emergency, Vittorio Emanuele University Hospital, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pavone
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Department, Pediatric Nephrology Operative Unit, La Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lubrano
authors.affiliation: Department of General Paediatrics and Neonates, Paediatric Operative Unit and Acute and Emergency, Vittorio Emanuele University Hospital, University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Falsaperla
keywords: Case series; immune system; nervous system; pediatric; peripheral inflammation