Blalock J Edwin, Smith Eric M
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Brain Behav Immun. 2007 Jan;21(1):23-33. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2006.09.004. Epub 2006 Nov 7.
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.
了解免疫系统和神经系统如何以及为何以双向途径进行通信，一直是心理神经免疫学（PNI）领域发展的基础。本综述将讨论一些关键研究结果，这些结果发现神经和免疫系统使用共同的化学语言进行系统内和系统间通信。具体而言，神经和免疫系统产生一组共同的肽类和非肽类神经递质以及细胞因子，这为两个系统之间提供了共同的受体和配体库。这些研究引出了一个概念，即通过共享配体和受体，免疫系统可以作为第六感来检测身体无法通过其他方式听到、看到、闻到、尝到或触摸到的事物。免疫系统能够以极高的灵敏度和特异性检测病原体、肿瘤和过敏原。作为第六感，免疫系统是一种发出信号并动员身体应对这些挑战的方式。本文还将按时间顺序回顾一些对验证第六感概念至关重要的PNI相关研究。最后，本综述将提出一些方法，以应用新发现的第六感知识来理解安慰剂效应，并开发治疗人类疾病的新治疗方法。
