Sympathetic Nervous System Dysfunction in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Brief Overview
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune condition characterized by chronic inflammation occurring locally within the synovial joints and systemically. Accumulating evidence supports an important role of the sympathetic nervous system in the pathophysiology of RA, both as a cause and consequence of inflammation. Acute sympathetic activation results in a shift from a T-helper (Th) 1 […]
Cytokines, Stress, and Depression (Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology)
Cytokines, Stress, and Depression is edited by Robert Dantzer, Emmanuelle E. Wollmann and Raz Yirmiya, and published by Springer. Cytokines had been characterized in the early eighties as communication molecules between immune cells, and between immunocytes and other peripheral cells, such as fibroblasts and endothelial cells. They play a key role in the regulation of […]
Cytokines: Stress and Immunity, 2nd Edition
Homeostasis within the immune system is largely dependent on cytokines, the chemical messengers between immune cells. These diverse groups of proteins may be regarded as hormones of the immune system that play crucial roles in regulating immune and inflammatory responses. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, released during an immune response and inflammation activate the central components of the […]
Neurobiology of Cytokines – Part A and B
The term ‘cytokine’ originates from the combination of the Greek ‘cyto’, meaning cell, and ‘kinos’ meaning movement. Cytokines are proteins that aid cell to cell communication, typically in immune responses, exerting important regulatory functions in both innate and adaptive immune responses, and the traffic of immune cells towards sites of inflammation, infection and trauma. The […]
Neurobiology of the Immune System
Volume 52, International Review of Neurobiology International Review of Neurobiology is a well-known series appealing to neuroscientists, clinicians, psychologists, physiologists, and pharmacologists. Provides solid scientific basis to our understanding of the associations between the brain and the immune system the importance of these connections. Presents coherent development from cellular and molecular neuroimmune communication to social […]
First Evidence that Meningeal Interferon-γ Affects Neuronal Connectivity and Social Behavior
A recent study published in Nature magazine links the meningeal immunity to the regulation of social behavior, implicating the meningeal interferon (IFN)-γ and its modulatory effects on the activity of brain cortex GABAergic neurons. Diseases such as autism spectrum disorder, frontotemporal dementia and schizophrenia are characterized by severe social and immune dysfunction. Little is known […]
2015 Bringing Some Major Advances in Neuroendocrine Immunology
Editorial In 2003, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA, launched the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research, marking the renaissance in interdisciplinary research, and outlining new perspectives of cutting-edge 21st century work that crosses disciplines. The ‘interdisciplinary research’, as per the Roadmap, was defined as “integrating the analytical strengths of two or more […]
Interleukin-35 Restrains Lymphocytic Infiltration and T Cell-Dependent Anti-Tumor Immunity
A new study published in the journal Immunity indicates that interleukin (IL)-35 inhibits the recruitment of effector anti-tumor T cells and suppresses their function in the tumor microenvironment. IL-35 belongs to the IL-12 family of cytokines. It is a dimeric protein composed of two subunits – p35 and EBI3, which are shared with other IL-12 […]
Cytokines Driving Sympathetic Nervous System Activation in the Subfornical Organ: Implications for Heart Failure and Hypertension
A recent study published in Hypertension demonstrates that cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1β and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α acting at the level of the subfornical organ induce the expression of inflammatory and excitatory mediators that subsequently drive sympathetic nervous system activation. The subfornical organ (SFO), a highly vascularized structure is a circumventricular organ that lacks […]
Rejecting Allergens: The Avoidance Behavior
Evolving Concepts The immune system can recognize, assimilate or reject self and non-self components. Indeed, immunological activities vary in a spectrum that goes from total tolerance (assimilation of self and non-self) to intolerance (rejection of self and non-self). Immunologists are aware of the power of immunologic rejection of histo-incompatible transplanted organs or tissues as well […]
