Neuroendocrine-immune interaction: Evolutionarily conserved mechanisms that maintain allostasis in an ever-changing environment.
It has now become accepted that the immune system and neuroendocrine system form an integrated part of our physiology. Immunological defense mechanisms act in concert with physiological processes like growth and reproduction, energy intake and metabolism, as well as neuronal development. Not only are psychological and environmental stressors communicated to the immune system, but also, vice versa, the immune response and adaptation to a current pathogen challenge are communicated to the entire body, including the brain, to evoke adaptive responses (e.g., fever, sickness behavior) that ensure allocation of energy to fight the pathogen. This phenomenon is evolutionarily conserved. Hence it is both interesting and important to consider the evolutionary history of this bi-directional neuroendocrine-immune communication to reveal phylogenetically ancient or relatively recently acquired mechanisms. Indeed, such considerations have already disclosed an extensive "common vocabulary" of information pathways as well as molecules and their receptors used by both the neuroendocrine and immune systems. This review focuses on the principal mechanisms of bi-directional communication and the evidence for evolutionary conservation of the important physiological pathways involved.
Cell Biology and Immunology Group, Dept. of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: Lidy.vankemenade@wur.nl.
B M Lidy
BML
Verburg-van Kemenade
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY 14620, USA.
Nicholas
N
Cohen
Department of Evolutionary Immunology, Institute of Zoology, Jagiellonian University, Gronostajowa 9, PL30-387 Krakow, Poland.
Magdalena
M
Chadzinska
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System; D015213:Neuroimmunomodulation; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems; D013312:Stress, Physiological
Blood brain barrier; Homeostasis; Leukocytes; Neuroendocrine-immune interaction; Psychoneuroimmunology; Receptor interaction; Stress axis