Effects of factors involved in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy and some phosphodiesterase inhibitors on neuroinflammation-related events in primary rat astrocyte cultures

Abstract

Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cell type in the brain. They were historically considered as a homogenous cell population; however an increasing body of evidence suggests that there is morphological and functional heterogeneity of this cell type, thus distinct astrocyte subtypes can be found in the brain.