Inflammation is a stereotypic yet complex response to infectious, traumatic, ischemic, or toxic insults. Usually, inflammation is a beneficial process that is essential to combat infections and for tissue repair. It requires the carefully concerted interaction of innate and adaptive immune cells and soluble factors to achieve as much tissue destruction as needed in combating infections while avoiding unnecessary harm to the organism. Any dysbalance in this intricate network of cells and soluble factors can induce catastrophic outcomes. Examples include the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) that frequently occurs in patients with septicaemia, autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis, and also processes that have long been viewed as degenerative such as arteriosclerosis or neurodegenerative diseases. It can reasonably argued that misguided elements of the inflammatory response are involved in the pathogenesis of most human diseases. Recently, significant progress has been made towards understanding the initiation, modulation and therapeutic manipulation of inflammation. Perhaps not too surprisingly, neuro-immune interactions have been found to be crucial control elements in the inflammatory process.