Scavenger receptor class A (SR‐A, CD204), scavenger receptor‐BI (SR‐BI), and CD36 are cell surface proteins that mediate cell adhesion to, and endocytosis of, various native and pathologically modified substances, and participate in intracellular signaling, lipid metabolism, and host defense against bacterial pathogens. Microglia, Mato cells, astrocytes, cerebral microvascular endothelial cells, cerebral arterial smooth muscle cells, and retinal pigment epithelial cells express one or more of these SR. Expression of SR‐A and SR‐BI by microglia is developmentally regulated. Neonatal microglia express SR‐A and SR‐BI, while microglia in normal mouse and human adult brain express neither. Astrocytes in adult brain express SR‐BI. In Alzheimer's disease, microglial expression of SR‐A is increased. Such findings, and evidence that SR‐A and SR‐BI mediate adhesion and endocytosis of fibrillar β‐amyloid by microglia and astrocytes, respectively, and that SR‐A, SR‐BI, and CD36 participate in secretion of reactive oxygen species by microglia, suggest roles for these receptors in homeostasis and neuropathology. GLIA 40:195–205, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.