Description

It is now well recognized that the brain, and especially the hypothalamus, plays an important role in the regulation of immune reactions and inflammation. This book aims to review our current state of knowledge of this important field. Key historical findings are presented and the reciprocal interactions between the brain and the immune system are examined. Particular emphasis is placed on inflammation, a critical host defense reaction which serves as an effector response for both the adaptive and innate immune systems

Mechanisms implicated in brain defense, as well as in more general host defense, are discussed. The regulatory influences of the brain on inflammatory responses are included with particular reference to the role of the hypothalamus which is also the main director the hormonal regulation of immune/inflammatory. Gender related differences in immune responsiveness, circadian modulator of immune responses, and evidence that behavioural conditioning (e.g. reward) of immune responses is possible, are used as examples to reinforce the notion that the neuroendocrine system exerts a fundamental and complex regulatory influence on the immune system.

Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION

1 - The hypothalamus is the central organ of immunoregulation; István Berczi, Barry Arnason;

II. DEVELOPMENT AND FUNCTION OF THE NEUROIMMUNE SYSTEM

2 - Leech Neuroimmune Signaling; Aurelie Tasiemski and Michel Salzet

3 - Morphogenesis of the Hypothalamus and Hypophysis; Kosuke Kawamura

4 - A Novel Genus of Specialized Anti-Inflammatory and Pro-Resolution Lipid Mediators; Gerard Bannenberg and Charles N. Serhan

5 - Neural and Non-Neural Stem Cells as Novel Therapeutic Modalities for Brain Injury; Ronen R. Leker and Éva Mezey

6 - The Role of the Toll-like Receptors in Neuropathology; Catherine E. Downes and Peter J. Crack

7 - Cytokines and the Immune-Neuroendocrine Network; Silvia G. Correa, Claudia E. Sotomayor and María Cecilia Rodríguez-Galán

8 - Orexin Containing Neurons and the Immune System; Natalia S. Novikova and Helen A. Korneva

9 - Central Pathways of Immunoregulation; Kathyrn M. Buller

10 - Brain Responses to Antigenic Challenges; Helen A. Korneva, Natalia S. Novikova

III. IMMUNOREGULATION BY THE NERVOUS SYsTEM

11 - Immunoregulation by the Nervous System: Role of the Endocrine System; Christopher John

12 - Conditioning of Immune Reactions; Laura Y. Gorczynski, Reginald M. Gorczynski

13 - Gender Issues in Host Defense; Matthias W. Wichmann and Martin K. Angele

IV. HOW THE BRAIN DEFENDS ITSELF

14 - Glial Cells in Brain Defense Mechanisms; Mami Noda

15 - Immunologic Privilege and the Brain; M. Kelly Nicholas and Rimas Lukas

16 - Immune Aspects of the Blood-Brain Barrier; Thomas E. Liggett and Roumen Balabanov

17 - Neuroprotective Activities of CD4+CD25+ Regulatory T Cells; Ashley D. Reynolds, David K. Stone, R. Lee Mosley, Howard E. Gendelman

V. THE ROLE OF THE BRAIN IN HOST DEFENSE IN DISEASE STATES

18 - Fever as a Host Defense Mechanism; Clark M. Blatteis

19 - Leukocytes as Mediator of Pain and Analgesia; Dagmar Hackel, Alexander Brack and Heike L. Rittner

20 - Tumor Necrosis Factor as Neuroinflammatory Mediator in Alzheimer’s Disease and Stroke. Molecular Mechanisms and Neuroinflammatory Imaging; Ulrich L.M. Eisel, Nikoletta Dobos, Rudi Dierckx, Paul Luiten and Jacob Korf

21 - Multiple Sclerosis and Depression – a Neuroimmunological Perspective; Barry G. Arnason

22 - Infection and Sepsis; Valentin A. Pavlov, Luis Ulloa, Christine N. Metz

23 - Restoration of Neuroimmune Disturbances in Rats by Extra High Frequency Electromagnetic Irradiation of the Skin; Elena G. Rybakina, Vernon J. Rogers, and Natalia S. Novikova

Author Information

Barry G. W. Arnason