Accumulating evidence implicates PARP1 and its enzymatic activity in inflammatory conditions of the central nervous system (CNS) including stroke (reviewed in (Chiarugi 2005)), multiple sclerosis (Chiarugi 2002; Diestel et al. 2003; Farez et al. 2009), and infection (Koedel et al. 2002). This evidence concerns the gene PARP1 and infection.