Principles of Immunology and Neuroimmunology: Mechanistic Insights, Pathophysiology, and Therapeutic Strategies

Immunology and neuroimmunology now stand at the center of modern medicine. Once considered separate disciplines—one focused on systemic host defense and the other on nervous system pathology—they are increasingly understood as deeply interconnected biological systems that shape health, disease progression, and therapeutic innovation. This comprehensive textbook offers an integrated exploration of immune science and its complex relationship with the central and peripheral nervous systems, providing readers with both foundational principles and advanced clinical applications. The opening sections establish a rigorous foundation in core immunologic mechanisms. Readers are guided through the architecture of innate and adaptive immunity, antigen recognition, lymphocyte development, cytokine signaling networks, complement activation, immune tolerance, and regulatory pathways that maintain homeostasis. Rather than presenting isolated facts, the text emphasizes systems-level organization—how immune cells communicate, how signaling cascades amplify or restrain inflammation, and how genetic and environmental factors influence immune behavior. Molecular mechanisms are presented with clarity and depth, ensuring that readers understand not only what occurs, but why and how it occurs. Building upon these foundations, the book transitions into immune dysregulation and systemic pathology. Autoimmunity, hypersensitivity, immunodeficiency, tumor immunology, chronic inflammation, and immunometabolic reprogramming are examined through mechanistic frameworks. Particular attention is given to breakdowns in immune tolerance, aberrant T- and B-cell activation, cytokine amplification loops, and immune checkpoint pathways. By integrating molecular biology with clinical phenotypes, the text bridges the gap between laboratory science and patient care. The neuroimmunology sections extend these principles into the highly specialized environment of the nervous system. The evolving understanding of immune privilege is reexamined in light of contemporary discoveries, including meningeal lymphatics, microglial heterogeneity, and neurovascular unit dynamics. Detailed discussion of blood–brain barrier physiology, glial immune signaling, and peripheral-to-central immune communication illustrates how immune activity influences neuronal integrity, synaptic function, and neuroplasticity. Major neuroimmune disorders are analyzed through consistent and structured frameworks. Demyelinating syndromes, antibody-mediated encephalopathies, inflammatory neuropathies, paraneoplastic conditions, and infection-triggered neuroinflammatory states are explored from pathogenesis to therapeutic intervention. Each condition is contextualized within its underlying immunologic drivers—cellular activation pathways, autoantibody production, complement-mediated injury, and microglial amplification—before advancing to clinical manifestations, diagnostic strategies, biomarker interpretation, and evidence-based treatments. Therapeutic innovation forms a major component of the text. Immunomodulatory strategies—including corticosteroids, intravenous immunoglobulin, plasma exchange, monoclonal antibodies, B-cell–depleting therapies, complement inhibitors, and emerging biologics—are discussed within mechanistic frameworks that explain their targets and clinical rationale. Precision immunology, biomarker-guided therapy, cellular immunotherapies, and tolerance-inducing strategies highlight the future direction of personalized neuroimmune care. Designed for advanced medical students, residents, fellows, neurologists, immunologists, psychiatrists, and clinician-scientists, this textbook serves as both a foundational learning resource and a specialist reference.