Perivascular astrocytes are central to the structural and functional changes of the microvasculature in epilepsy through their combination of the roles in maintaining the BBB integrity and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines (including vascular endothelial growth factor, IL-1β, HMGB1, and TNF), chemokines such as C-C motif ligand 2 (CCL2) as well as downstream effectors, which also activate receptors on pericytes and endothelial cells of microvessels (Giannoni et al., 2018; Yamanaka et al., 2021a). Here, IL1B is linked to epilepsy.