Neuroimmune disease

Disruption was the first BBB function noted to be perturbed in neuroimmune disease. Hov ever, the review above makes it clear that an increase in the BBB permeability can be induced for specific agents by increasing their blood-to-brain transport rate or inhibiting their brain-to-blood efflux rate. 

The above review has emphasized BBB/neuroimmune interactions under normal physiological conditions. However, the BBB is intimately involved in neuroimmune diseases as well. The BBB can be a target of such disease, its functions may be adaptive to disease, or it can be a contributor to the disease process. Below are some examples of the ways in which the BBB is altered in diseases with neuroimmune processes. 

Immune cell trafficking into the CNS is important in mediating neuroimmune diseases. Immune cell invasion is an early event in multiple sclerosis and EAE (Wolburg et al., 2005). Infected immune cells are a mechanism by which HTV-l (Koyanagi et al., 1997 Nottet et al., 1996) and perhaps prions (Klein et al., 1997) invade the CNS. 

Marcario JK, Riazi M, Adany I, Kenjale H, Fleming K, Marquis J, Nemon O, Mayo MS, Yankee T, Narayan O, Cheney PD (2008) Effect of morphine on the neuropathogenesis of SlVmac infection in Indian Rhesus Macaques. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 3 12-25 Mattson MP, Haughey NJ, Nath A (2005) CeU death in HIV dementia. Cell Death Differ 12 893-904 Mayne M, Bratanich AC, Chen P, Rana F, Nath A, Power C (1998) HlV-1 tat molecular diversity and induction of TNF-alpha implications for HIV-induced neurological disease. Neuroimmunomodulation 5 184-192... 

A broad variety of diseases may cause neuropathic pain 935 Injured axons may develop spontaneous and repetitive firing known as ectopic activity 935 Sensory neurons transform their phenotype 936 Spinal disinhibition allows more nociceptive signal input 936 Peripheral nerve injury provokes a marked neuroimmune reaction 937... 

In summary, the various cytokines listed here all have certain associations with HAD. This body of evidence shades the inflammatory pattern of cytokine in HAD toward a chronic and detrimental effect that becomes manifest as the disease progresses. However, the cytokines discussed here do not consdtute the complete list of players in HAD and other neuroimmune disorder diseases. Chemokines have a unique impact on the immune system their role will be discussed at length below. 

Ringheim GE, Conant K (2004) Neurodegenerative disease and tlie neuroimmune axis (Alzheimer s and Pai kinson s disease, and viral infections). J Neuroimmunol 147 43 9. 

In addition, the likelihood that depression represents a complex of disease states with varying involvement of the immune system supports the idea that there is a subgroup of depressed patients who have associated alterations in immune function. Indeed, data suggest that different types of depression display distinct, and even opposite, changes in neuroimmune functions (Antonijevic, 2006). As a result of multiple issues, there are contradictory, or at least inconsistent, findings in the literature. This is characteristic of most types of studies of depression, again probably because depression represents multiple disease states. 

Godbout, J. R, and Glaser, R. (2006). Stress-induced immune dysregulation Imphcations for wound healing, infectious disease and cancer. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 1(4), 421 27. 

Heumann, R., Lindholm, D., Bandtlow, C.E., Meyer, M., Rohrer, H. and Thoenen, H. (1989) Neuroimmune Networks. Physiology and Diseases. Alan R. Liss, New York. 

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