Mitochondrial dysfunction: A potential link between neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration?

Dysfunctional mitochondria are thought to play a cardinal role in the pathogenesis of various neurological disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and stroke. In addition, neuroinflammation is a common denominator of these diseases. Both mitochondrial dysfunction and neuroinflammatory processes lead to increased production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are detrimental to neurons. Therefore, neuroinflammation is increasingly recognized to contribute to processes underlying neurodegeneration. Here we describe the involvement of mitochondrial (dys)function in various neurological disorders and discuss the putative link between mitochondrial function and neuroinflammation.