Sypathetic nervous system (SNS) modulation of immunity. The role of the sympathetic nervous system in regulation of immunity is examined in mice that are chemically-denervated by injection of the neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA). This results in a strain-dependant elevation of Th1 and Th2
cytokines and antibody titers. Denervation also results in a robust, but transient, expression of central Fos protein and corticotrophin releasing hormone,
as well as an elevation in corticosterone levels in denervated mice. The interrelationships of this HPA axis activation, loss of peripheral sympathetics, and altered immune function is being explored.
Jan A. Moynihan
Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Microbiology and Immunology and of Oncology
Rice PA, Boehm GW, Moynihan JA, Bellinger DL, Stevens SY. Chemical
sympathectomy alters numbers of splenic and peritoneal leukocytes. Brain Behav Immun. 16:62-73, 2002.
Rice PA, Boehm GW, Moynihan JA, Bellinger DL, Stevens SY. Chemical
sympathectomy increases the innate immune response and decreases the specific immune response in the spleen to infection with Listeria monocytogenes. J Neuroimmunol 114:19-27, 2001.