Eteraf-Oskouei Tahereh, Najafi Moslem
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Heliyon. 2022 May;8(5):e09544. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09544. Epub 2022 May 26.
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which led to a pandemic started in Wuhan, China, in 2019. The rapid spread of the disease in the world, unprecedented mortality rate, and lack of definitive treatment for the disease have led to a global effort to develop effective vaccines as well as new therapeutic interventions. Immune cells activation with excessive inflammation is an important pathophysiological feature of COVID-19 that may impair the various organs functions. Accordingly, these could cause dysfunction in the brain with some symptoms such as respiratory failure, headache, impaired consciousness, olfactory and taste disorders, and severe neurological disorders such as encephalitis. It was found that there is a two-way communication between the immune system and the nervous system through classical neurotransmitters, hormones, and cytokines. Among neurotransmitters, serotonin plays important roles in the immune system and in regulating inflammatory responses by central and peripheral mechanisms. This article aimed to review the two-way relationship between the immune and the nervous systems by focusing on the serotonergic system and the emerging COVID-19 disease.
2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）是一种由严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）引起的传染病，该疾病于2019年在中国武汉引发了一场大流行。该疾病在全球的迅速传播、前所未有的死亡率以及缺乏针对该疾病的确定性治疗方法，促使全球努力研发有效的疫苗以及新的治疗干预措施。免疫细胞过度激活并伴有炎症是COVID-19的一个重要病理生理特征，这可能会损害各个器官的功能。因此，这些情况可能会导致大脑功能障碍，并出现一些症状，如呼吸衰竭、头痛、意识障碍、嗅觉和味觉障碍，以及严重的神经系统疾病，如脑炎。研究发现，免疫系统和神经系统之间通过经典神经递质、激素和细胞因子存在双向通信。在神经递质中，血清素在免疫系统以及通过中枢和外周机制调节炎症反应中发挥着重要作用。本文旨在通过关注血清素能系统和新出现的COVID-19疾病，综述免疫系统和神经系统之间的双向关系。
