Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics and Intracranial Pressure Elevation – Novel Insights on Molecular and Physiological Mechanisms, and Implications for Neurological Disease

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About this Research Topic

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Background

The balance between the secretion, composition, turnover, and outflow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is strictly regulated by homeostatic feedback mechanisms. Disruption of this balance can be life-threatening, leading to increased intracranial pressure (ICP), with important implications for neurological diseases such as stroke, brain trauma, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, hydrocephalous, and syringomyelia. Understanding the complex cellular and molecular mechanisms that contribute to altered CSF pathways in neurological diseases and developing models to better predict CSF dynamics are areas of intense research.

Emerging data have challenged the traditional views and hypotheses of CSF dynamics, suggesting more complex mechanisms are at play than previously proposed. Therefore, increasing our understanding of the factors influencing CSF dynamics, and their contribution to ICP elevation during neuropathology can offer potential therapeutic targets. Intraventricular catheter remains the gold standard method for measuring ICP, while CSF outflow resistance measurements typically involves lumbar puncture and infusion studies. However, due to the highly invasive nature of these methods, very little research has been conducted in patients who do not display high ICP to understand how disorders of CSF dynamics may influence ICP, and whether secondary neurodegeneration may occur. Therefore, accurate, more reliable, and less invasive methods, including mathematical modeling are urgently needed. Furthermore, investigating detailed molecular and physiological aspects of CSF secretion, circulation and turnover can lead to the development of novel pharmacological agents for treating neurological and neurogenerative diseases with impaired brain fluid homeostasis. Therefore, our goal is to highlight new developments and showcase novel insights into understanding the role of CSF dynamics and ICP elevation in neurological disease, and the underlying molecular mechanisms that contribute to disease progression.

In this Research Topic, we would like to welcome discovery, translational and clinical researchers to submit original research articles, method papers, and reviews as well as case reports, opinions, perspectives, theory, and hypothesis covering the following topics:
• The role of impaired CSF dynamics leading to ICP elevation in neurological diseases such as ischaemic stroke, traumatic brain injury, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, hydrocephalous and syringomyelia
• Understanding the key molecular mechanisms underlying CSF secretion, flow, and drainage leading to disease progression
• Molecular biomarkers of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease present in CSF and their potential as diagnostic tools
• Pharmacological strategies to manage abnormal CSF volume increase and/or elevated ICP
• Novel techniques and models (in vitro and in vivo) to study CSF dynamics and ICP (including non-invasive methods such as computational and mathematical modeling)

Keywords: cerebrospinal fluid, intracranial pressure, fluid dynamics, water homeostasis, oedema, stroke, hydrocephalus, syringomyelia

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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