Cytokines

Abstract

The relationships between stress, distress, immunity and health are now generally accepted but still not fully defined. Cytokines play a central role in immune responses and are sensitive to the effects of acute and chronic stress through the neuroendocrine network. This can be both a physiological protective system as well as pathologically imbalanced or suppressed. Many factors influence the balance between cytokine and neuroendocrine networks and impact host defense mechanisms against infection, hypersensitivity diseases and cancer. The stressors that influence host defense can be psychological, physiological or a combination. Cytokines can, in turn, influence neuroendocrine networks, CNS function and even behavior directly. A better understanding of the cytokine-neuroendocrine crosstalk and the influence of various stressors on that crosstalk offers the opportunity for future interventional strategies for stress-related illnesses. © 2007 Copyright © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.