Neuroimmunomodulation has experienced an explosive growth not only in basic research, but expanding to the point that prospective clinical research could be now a reality. A crucial factor for the functioning of this intimate bidirectional network was the demonstration that the immune and neuroendocrine systems speak a mutual biochemical language. This implies 1) production of neuroendocrine ho...

BACKGROUND Anticancer immunity is under psychoneuroendocrine regulation, mainly via the pineal gland and brain opioid system, which may stimulate and inhibit antitumor immunity respectively. Cancer-related immuno-suppression does not depend only on functional damage of immune cells, but also on alterations of systems responsible for the neuroimmunomodulation, the most frequent of wich is a decl...

There is an extensive literature concerned with the integration of the immune system with the central nervous system (CNS) and endocrine systems. Each of these body systems is complex, and studying the interactions among the three systems raises the complexity by orders of magnitude. The field of “psychoneuroimmunology” or “neuroimmunomodulation” is a rapidly de veloping field and encompasses t...

The hypothesis that macrophages contain an autocrine circuit based on melanocortin [ACTH and α-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (α-MSH)] peptides has major implications for neuroimmunomodulation research and inflammation therapy. To test this hypothesis, cells of the THP-1 human monocyte/macrophage line were stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the presence and absence of α-MSH. The inflam...

Tachykinins are excitatory neuropeptides synthesised in neuronal and glial cells of the human central and peripheral nervous system. They participate in both physiological and certain pathological conditions, i.e. synaptic transmission, nociception and neuroimmunomodulation. Tachykinins act as excitatory neurotransmitters and/or neuromodulators and induce DNA synthesis leading to stimulation of...

BACKGROUND Up to now, many "immunoactive" brain areas have been identified, such as hypothalamic nuclei, brain reward system; but the nucleus ambiguous (Amb), a nucleus nervi vagis of medulla oblongata, was less well studied in neuroimmunomodulation. METHODS In order to obtain more profound comprehension and more knowledge on Amb, we studied the effect of acute electrical stimulation of Amb o...

OBJECTIVE To develop and evaluate a diagnostic algorithm based on the alteration of mast cell and nerve fiber observed in bladder tissue of patients with interstitial cystitis (IC). MATERIALS AND METHODS Non-IC samples from 6 control groups (N = 10, 10, 13, 2, 11, and 3, respectively) and nonclassic interstitial cystitis (NC-IC, N = 20) were stained with Giemsa stain in order to calculate the...

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a highly prevalent gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain and discomfort in association with altered bowel habits. It is estimated to affect 10%-15% of the Western population, and has a large impact on quality of life and (in)direct healthcare costs. IBS is a multifactorial disorder involving dysregulation within the brain-gut axis, and it is...

We examined the impact of acute restraint stress (ARS) with(out) intraperitoneal E. coli infection on TLR4 mRNA abundance in brain and spleen, clinical signs, cytokines and oxidative loads and peritoneal E. coli growth in balb/c mice. ARS exacerbated E. coli virulence and behavioral abnormality. At different post-stress hour the pattern and intensity of TLR4 activity differed in brain and splee...

Macrophages in lymphoid organs are in close contact to nerve terminals of the sympathetic nervous system. Hence, these cells could be targets of neuronal modulation. We studied sympathetic neurotransmitters as chemoattractants enabling the aggregation of macrophages and nerve terminals. Norepinephrine (NE), neuropeptide Y (NPY), isoproterenol (beta-adrenergic), p-aminoclonidine (alpha2-adrenerg...