Background Central nervous system (CNS) astrocytes have various functions in the central nervous system (CNS). Many neurodegenerative diseases are associated with astrocyte dysfunction. Main body of the abstract Undoubtedly, astrocytes play a crucial role in neurogenesis and synaptogenesis by controlling the intercellular permeability of the blood–brain barrier and maintaining the homeostasis of the extracellular space. Regarding nerve damage, mature astrocytes are divided into A1 and A2 astrocytes. The supportive patterns of reactive astrocytes can be converted into toxic patterns and eventually lead to the development of neurological diseases. Alterations of neurotransmitters, cell communication, receptors, and signaling pathways, especially in the site of inflammation, secretion of inflammatory factors, secretion of growth factors, protein deposition, ion homeostasis, and finally, changes in the size and number of astrocytes are among the most important pathogenic alterations in astrocytes. Astrocytes also exhibit considerable heterogeneity due to the developmental mechanisms they follow and stimulus-specific cellular responses influenced by CNS location, cell–cell interactions, and other factors. Short conclusion In recent years, biomolecular advances have led to a better understanding of astrocyte function, allowing them to be considered a therapeutic target in healthy and diseased individuals. Understanding the interactions between astrocytes and other cells will improve our knowledge of the regulation of astrocyte function in homeostasis and new therapeutic targets in future studies.

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Introduction: Stroke is the third most common cause of mortality and the most common disability disorder among adults. We aimed to study the relationship between Chlamydia pneumonia infection and non-cardio Ambulatory ischemic stroke. Methods: This case-control study was performed on 162 patients with non-cardio ambulatory ischemic stroke admitted to Shahid Beheshti Hospital of Kashan in 2019 as the case group and patients with neurological headache and degenerative diseases as the control group. After filling out the questionnaire for all subjects, we took blood samples. We analyzed all three anti-chlamydia pneumonia antibodies (IgM, IgG, IgA) by ELISA method after data were analyzed by Chi-square and Fisher tests. Results: The findings of this study showed that positive IgA in the stroke group was significantly higher than in the control group (p=0.001); it was also found that the risk factors of HTN (p=0.001), HLP (p=0.001), DM (p=0.001), and age (p = 0.049) were significantly higher in the stroke patients' group than the control group. On the other hand, there was not a significant difference in serum IgG level (p = 0.349), IgM (p = 0.745), smoking (p = 0.211) and gender (p = 0.157) in understudied groups. Conclusion: Chlamydia IgA antibodies can be a complementary tool for predicting prognosis and monitoring new therapies for ischemic stroke. This study provides a way for further studies, especially with other markers of acute and chronic systemic Chlamydia pneumonia infection. Antibiotic treatment significantly helps to reduce mortality and stroke complications.