Chemokine activity immune system with

Opioid regulation of chemokine and chemokine receptor expression has several disease- related implications. Viral infection by HIV-1 can be enhanced with opioids that activate MOR while the opposite can be true for opioids that activate KOR. Increased levels of HIV-1 coreceptors, such as CCR5 and CXCR4, can promote viral binding and trafficking of HIV-1 virally infected cells. It is likely that this allows the viral disease to progress in the immune cells of the blood in addition to neurological reservoirs. Alterations of chemokine receptor expression will not only affect viral infection, but also alter immune system function. In certain diseases... 

Cytokines are a heterogenous group of polypeptide mediators that have been associated with activation of numerous functions, including the immune system and inflammatory responses. The cytokine families include, but are not limited to, interleukins, chemokines, tumor necrosis factors, interferons (INF-a, -0, and -y), colony-stimulating factors, growth factors, neuropoietins, and neurotrophins (see Table 13.4). 

MDD. Activation of some aspects of the immune system is generally associated with MDD, even in patients who are otherwise quite healthy. Many studies support this idea (Raison et al., 2006). Proinflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 and TNF-a, are increased in plasma and in the CNS. There also are increases in the level of chemokines and adhesion molecules. 

Inflammation is considered the key feature of the immune system response to injury. The main symptoms of inflammations are redness, swelling, pain, and heat. The body s immime system commonly controls the inflammation itself When the inflammations become imcon-trollable, the body becomes diseased, leading to chronic discomfort [109]. This chronic inflammation is the major component of various chronic diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, rheiunatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, and allergies [110,111]. Along with activation and proliferation of inflammatory cells, cytokines and chemokines are produced in excessive quantities in chronic inflammatory diseases. The primary targets of the anti-inflammatory compounds are the inhibition of inflammatory cell recruitment and proinflammatory mediator production [112]. 

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