IL1B and neurodegenerative disease: High levels of IL-1β and IL-18 have been demonstrated in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), brain tissue and plasma of patients with CNS infection, brain injury and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and multiple sclerosis (MS; Licastro et al., 2000; de Jong et al., 2002; Huang et al., 2004).