Psychoneuroimmunology
Open Access
- 1 January 2008
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Hindawi Limited in Dermatologic Therapy
- Vol. 21 (1), 22-31
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1529-8019.2008.00166.x
Abstract
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) is a discipline that has evolved in the last 40 years to study the relationship between immunity, the endocrine system, and the central and peripheral nervous systems. In this manner, neurotransmitters, hormones, and neuropeptides have been found to regulate immune cells, and these in turn are capable of communicating with nervous tissue through the secretion of a wide variety of cytokines. Of critical importance is the effect of products of the CNS and nerves on the maintenance of the delicate balance between cell‐mediated (Th1) and humoral (Th2) immune responses. A good example of how this concept operates in vivo becomes evident when analyzing the effects of stressors. Chronic stress affects significantly the function of the immune system as well as modifies the evolution of a variety of skin diseases, as psychosocial interventions have proved to be effective in their therapy.Keywords
This publication has 99 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Darwinian concept of stress: benefits of allostasis and costs of allostatic load and the trade-offs in health and diseaseNeuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2005
- Chronic stress accelerates ultraviolet-induced cutaneous carcinogenesisJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2004
- Protection and Damage from Acute and Chronic Stress: Allostasis and Allostatic Overload and Relevance to the Pathophysiology of Psychiatric DisordersAnnals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2004
- Psoriatic Keratinocytes Express High Levels of Nerve Growth FactorActa Dermato-Venereologica, 1998
- Cytokine-to-brain communication: A review & analysis of alternative mechanismsLife Sciences, 1995
- Social Connections and Risk for Cancer: Prospective Evidence from the Alameda County StudyBehavioral Medicine, 1990
- Effectiveness of relaxation and visualization techniques as an adjunct to phototherapy and photochemotherapy of psoriasisJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 1988
- Shock-induced modulation of lymphocyte reactivity: Suppression, habituation, and recoveryLife Sciences, 1987
- Stress, symmetry, and psoriasis: Possible role of neuropeptidesJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 1986
- What do the immune system and the brain know about each other?Immunology Today, 1983