title: Cytokines and food intake: the relevance of the immune system to the student of ingestive behavior.
abstract: The aims of this paper are to provide a selective review of the literature relating immune system mediators, especially cytokines, to the control of eating and to indicate why this literature is particularly relevant to the student of ingestive behavior. Four reasons are given. Firstly, many immune system mediators influence eating, providing excellent examples of neuroimmunological controls of behaviour. Secondly, the immune system appears to be involved in the profound eating pathology associated with several clinical conditions. Thirdly, cytokines affect both energy intake and energy expenditure. Fourthly, the anorexia typically associated with activation of the immune system provides an informative model for the analysis of gut-brain communication in the control of eating.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. weingart@mcmaster.ca
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Weingarten
mesh_terms: D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology; D016207:Cytokines / Q000502:physiology*; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines