Neuroendocrine-Immunology Progress and Development Stories: 2016 in Review
Editorial Neuroendocrine-immunology has achieved substantial progress and growth over the last year. As the BrainImmune mission is to promote the advancement of this research field, it is becoming a tradition to recapitulate the latest developments in this relatively new interdisciplinary area that bridges neurosciences and immunology. Note that this is not a complete list, but […]
The Therapeutic Potential of Secukinumab in Rheumatic Diseases
A review by Marije Koenders in Drug Design, Development and Therapy outlines some major features and characteristics of the new biological Secukinumab, which blocks the actions of interleukin 17A (IL-17), and explores its development, therapeutic potential and use in several rheumatic diseases. IL-17 provides protection against extracellular bacterial and fungal infections. However, IL-17 and Th17 […]
New Evidence Linking IL-17 to Neuropathic Pain
A study published in Molecular Medicine Reports provides further evidence that interleukin (IL)-17 contributes to neuropathic pain through the activation of astrocytes and secretion of proinflammatory cytokines. Neuropathic pain or chronic pain is a disease syndrome caused by injury to peripheral nerves, the spinal cord or the brain and over 1.5 billion people suffer from […]
Stress and Catecholamines Up-Regulate Proinflammatory Cytokine Production and Neutrophil Infiltration in Experimental Colitis
A recent Brain, Behavior and Immunity study indicates that psychological stress contributes to the exacerbation of the murine model of colitis by promoting the mobilization and entry of neutrophils in the colon. This appears to be achieved by the up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine production and STAT3 signaling, and involves β1/β2-adrenergic receptors activation. Inflammatory […]
Glucocorticoid-Resistant IL-17- and IL-22-secreting CD4+ T Cells May Contribute to Increased Disease Activity in Multiple Sclerosis
A recent study published in Immunology is perhaps the first to demonstrate a correlation between the production of interleukin (IL)-17 and IL-22, and its glucocorticoid resistance, and the number of active brain lesions in multiple sclerosis (MS). Increased active brain lesions were found in patients whose IL-17- and IL-22-producing T cells were more resistant to […]
TLRs-Activated Microglia Polarizes γδ T Cells towards a Neurotoxic IL-17+ γδ T Cell Phenotype: Implications for Multiple Sclerosis, Stroke and Alzheimer´s Disease
A recent PLoS One study indicates that the cross-talk between the brain microglia and T cells that follows a microglia’s activation via Toll-like receptors (TLRs) stimulation, results in a shift of the T cells’ profile towards a neurotoxic IL-17+ γδ T cells phenotype. After the discovery of T helper (Th)17 cells in 2005, their main […]
Th17 Cells and Lymphotoxin Promote Tertiary Lymphoid Tissues Formation and Neuroinflammation
According to a recent study published in Immunity, T helper (Th)17 cells initiate tertiary lymphoid tissues (TLTs) development in the meninges and propagate brain neuroinflammation. Tertiary lymphoid tissues or tertiary lymphoid organs (TLOs) represent accumulations of lymphoid cells at ectopic sites (in contrast to most lymphoid tissues developing before birth) usually triggered by chronic inflammation. […]
The Th17–IL-17–IL-17R System Linked To Altered Brain Development and Autism-Like Symptoms in Mice
A new report published in Science indicates that the key pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin (IL)-17a may interfere with the normal brain development in a mouse model of autism, causing disorganized cortical cytoarchitecture and autism-like symptoms. IL-17 is a highly pathogenic pro-inflammatory cytokine, considered a major player in several autoimmune/inflammatory diseases, whereas altered cytokine profiles and increased […]
Th17 and Th22 Cells May Contribute To the Pathogenesis of Guillain-Barré Syndrome
A study by Shujuan Li and colleagues from the Jilin University, Changchun, China, suggests that Th17 and Th22 cells might be involved in the onset and development of Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS), described in 1916 by George Guillain, Jean-Alexandre Barré, and André Strohl, is an acute inflammatory immune-mediated polyradiculoneuropathy presenting typically with tingling, progressive […]
An Association between Widespread Pain and Serum IL-8 Levels in Fibromyalgia Patients
Ozdolap S, et al. recently reported, at the European League against Rheumatism Annual European Congress of Rheumatology, June 10-13, 2015, a positive correlation between widespread pain and serum IL-8 in patients with fibromyalgia (FM). This substantiates previous work indicating that the pro-inflammatory chemokine IL-8 may contribute to the pathogenesis of fibromyalgia (Wang H. et al., […]
