Immunology Presentation – Students Work

PALESTINE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY

Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences

PSYCHONEUROIMMUNOLOGY

MohmmadRjab Seder Shawqi Seder Abd Al-hameed Altoum Mohmmad Hroub

 Discussion

What comes to your mind when you hear the word

Psychoneuroimmunology?
 What is Psychoneuroimmunology?

 Psycho-neuro-immunology (PNI)
The Inter-relationship of Mental Health and the
Immune System.

Stress=Sickness?
History … (1)

GEORGE F. SOLOMON
 History … (2)
 In 2nd century C.E. Galen observed that depressed women were
especially susceptible to breast cancer.

 Within the last 2 decades, three large meta-analysis have shown that
cellular and humoral immunity are dysfunctional in patients with
major depression.

1 Herbert and Cohen  

(1993)
  ↓ T-cell function and ↓ NK cell activity
2  Zorilla et al.(2001) in depressed patients

3  Dowlati et al. (2010)

  ↑ Interleukins (e.g. IL-6) and TNF in
depressed patients
Can stress reduction mediate the body’s
immune response?

Yes!
Students whom were taught relaxation training had a significant increase in
NK cell activity compared to students who had not received the training.
Furthermore, the students that had not received the training had an increase in
infectious illness symptoms around exam time.
  Mental health issues are often ignored or viewed as unimportant for treating
physically ill patients.

 PNI research underscores that all illness, regardless of whether it manifests

physically or mentally, is organic.

 Psychosocial issues, while often seen as separate and distinct from biologic
concerns, directly influence multiple body systems and impact the health

Why is PNI and disease of the individual.

Important ?
 The Behavioral Model
 The Behavioral model recognizes that the assessment of a patient’s health includes evaluating his or her
mental, emotional, and spiritual state of being as well as personal lifestyle choices.
Mechanisms
 Brain-Body Pathway in Stress … (1)

 Communication between the immune system and the brain is through

signals through the vagus nerve or through cytokines such as IL-6, IL-1,
and TNF.
 Brain-Body Pathway in Stress … (2)
Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis

 Inside the body there is a system called stress system that

regulates the release of stress hormones (E, NE, cortisol).

 The stress system consists of :

 The peripheral limbs
 hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
 SNS.
 Central components…

Anti-inflammatory
action
 HPA axis is central to the physiologic response to stress

When activated Cortisol, ACTH and CRH are released the effects on the CNS are:
 Arousal
 Sensory processing abnormalities
 Increase in perceived pain
 Sleep disturbances
 Memory issues

Chronically elevated Cortisol results in:

 Hyperglycemia
 Increased visceral adipose tissue
 Elevated BP
 Decreased bone density
 Increased lipids

The HPA axis is modulated by the autonomic nervous system and the HPA axis is also stimulated in the
process of inflammation
 Stress and immune function

 When faced with an immune problem such as a bacterial

infection, the presence of bacterial products such as LPS that
bind to Toll-like Receptors induce the production of IL-1 and IL-
6, which cross the blood-brain barrier and trigger the
hypothalamic CRH-stress response.
 Glucocorticoids (mainly cortisol) and catecholamine(EPI and
NE) act together to increase cytokine production from T2 cells
and inhibit cytokine synthesis from T1 cells through inhibition
of IL12 production from ABCS, the main inducer of Th1
responses.
 There is direct effect of Glucocorticoid on Th2 by increasing the
synthesis of IL-4,IL-10, and IL-13, while the Catecholamine
have indirect effect on Th2. Since catecholamine-related beta-
adrenergic receptors are only present in Th1 cells.
Effects of Stress on Health
and Disease

Stress worsens and increase the risk of conditions like obesity,

heart disease, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, headache and
gastrointestinal problems
 Psychiatric/Mood disorders and immunity
 Mental health according to research can affect immune system function through many ways there is strong
evidence to link immune stress-both in healthy populations and in cancer patients. Because of the role that
natural killer (NK) cells may play in malignant disease, this discussion focuses on them.

SADNESS
They discovered that significant activity of the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) generated by happiness
increases the number of antibodies in one of the investigations by recording the electrical activity of the
brain.

ANXIETY
When you are overly stressed, your body does not return to normal functioning, which weakens your
immune system and exposes you to more illnesses. It may also reduce the effectiveness of drugs.
 Does Psychological Depression Cause Immune
Suppression in Humans?

 The immune system is weakened, making you more susceptible to major or long-term sickness. Some
illnesses are triggered by the same factors that produce depression. This was revealed after researching mice
who were stressed and released inflammatory proteins into the system.
 Psychoneuroimmunology in Oncology

 Stress or depression has also been connected to two key carcinogenesis processes: poor DNA repair and
apoptotic abnormalities. On the other hand, evidence suggesting psychological therapy could increase
immune function and survival in cancer patients, as well as evidence that social support could be a crucial
psychological mediator, justifies more exploration. According to these and other studies, psychosocial
influences on immune function and other physiological channels may influence the incidence or progression
of cancer through psychosocial influences on immunological function and other physiological pathways.

 Although stress has been linked to a range of medical ailments, there is minimal proof that it causes cancer.
Some studies have discovered a link between a variety of psychological characteristics and an increased
cancer risk, whereas others have not.
 Psychoneuroimmunology and Autoimmune
Diseases
 Stress may cause body to have the same sickness response as infection or illness.
 Brain produces cytokines in response to stress.
 Chronic stress causes your body to produce cytokines over a long period of time. Cytokines are
inflammatory. Chronic inflammation increases your risk of developing:
 Autoimmune diseases
 DM type 2
 Heart diseases
 Others
 Type I IFN-α contributes to systemic autoimmune diseases:
 Systemic lupus erythematosus
 Myositis
 Systemic sclerosis
 Sjögren's syndrome
Exercise and immune function

Does Exercise Boost

Immunity

?
 Exercise and immune function
HOW exercise benefits the immune system ?
 When you exercise, you release cytokines and chemokines.
 This release helps tune up your immune system, making it able
respond faster and more effectively.
 Exercise can also naturally modulate so that you’re not over-
responding to the infection.
 In other words, physical activity helps your body trigger the right
amount of immune response to effectively shut down the infection.
 How Much of Exercise ?
WHO
🕒 recommends adults do:
 Neuroendocrine System and Immune Functions
 A number of hormonal and neuropeptide mediators have been shown to influence immune development and
function in healthy.
 Neuroendocrine interactions within the immune system can be:

Direct relation Indirect relation

 Best example of such interaction is thymus.  Pituitary gland organizes cortisol levels.
 Thymus is responsible for maturation of T cells,
which can be said to be one of the most important
immune cells.
 So thymus inhibition or loss can suppress a good part
of the immune response .
THANK YOU