Document Detail


Conceptual development of the immune system as a sixth sense.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  17088044     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Understanding how and why the immune and nervous systems communicate in a bidirectional pathway has been fundamental to the development of the psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) field. This review will discuss some of the pivotal results that found the nervous and immune systems use a common chemical language for intra and inter-system communication. Specifically the nervous and immune systems produce a common set of peptide and nonpeptide neurotransmitters and cytokines that provides a common repertoire of receptors and ligands between the two systems. These studies led to the concept that through the sharing of ligands and receptors the immune system could serve as a sixth sense to detect things the body cannot otherwise hear, see, smell, taste or touch. Pathogens, tumors, and allergens are detected with great sensitivity and specificity by the immune system. As a sixth sense the immune system is a means to signal and mobilize the body to respond to these types of challenges. The paper will also review in a chronological manner some of the PNI-related studies important to validating the sixth sense concept. Finally, the review will suggest ways to apply the new found knowledge of the sixth sense to understanding a placebo effect and developing new therapeutic approaches for treatment of human diseases.
Authors:
J Edwin Blalock; Eric M Smith
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Historical Article; Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't; Review     Date:  2006-11-07
Journal Detail:
Title:  Brain, behavior, and immunity     Volume:  21     ISSN:  0889-1591     ISO Abbreviation:  Brain Behav. Immun.     Publication Date:  2007 Jan 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2006-12-12     Completed Date:  2007-02-22     Revised Date:  2007-12-03    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  8800478     Medline TA:  Brain Behav Immun     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  23-33     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Animals
Forecasting
History, 20th Century
History, 21st Century
Humans
Mice
Neuroendocrinology / history*,  trends
Neuroimmunomodulation / physiology*
Neurosecretory Systems / immunology,  physiology*
Psychoneuroimmunology / history*,  trends
Research Design
Signal Transduction / immunology,  physiology*
Grant Support
ID/Acronym/Agency:
HL077783/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS; HL68806/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS; NS41495/NS/NINDS NIH HHS

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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