Shared recognition molecules in the brain and lymphoid tissues: the polypeptide mediator network of psychoneuroimmunology.

Nervous and immune systems share specific recognition molecules for signals that originate in both systems. The information substances are polypeptides and their receptors. They comprise the multi-directional information exchange network whereby brain and nervous system function including mood and emotion can be integrated with immune and endocrine system activity throughout the body. This serves as a biochemical rationale for multiple interactions between the systems. It permits us at the tissue, cellular and molecular level to start to understand the "psychoneuroimmunology" of the whole person. Initiated changes in our view of the nervous and immune systems will undoubtedly lead to new strategies for the prophylaxis, diagnosis and treatment of human pathology.