Vnitr Lek 2011, 57(10):839-846

The role of central nervous system in etiopathogenesis of peripheral organ diseases

B. Mravec^1,2

¹ Ústav patologickej fyziológie Lekárskej fakulty UK Bratislava, Slovenská republika, prednosta doc. MUDr. Marián Bernadič, CSc., mim. prof.

² Ústav experimentálnej endokrinológie SAV Bratislava, Slovenská republika, riaditeľ prof. MUDr. Iwar Klimeš, DrSc.

Current research on the etiopathogenesis of diseases of peripheral organs is primarily focused on the study of processes affecting those organs directly altered by diseases. As a result, therapeutic interventions are focused on the cells of those organs affected by pathological processes. However, pathological processes are not restricted to any "circumscribed" group of cells. Cells of tissue affected by pathological process interact with cells in the surrounding tissues. Moreover, pathologic processes also induce changes in the activity of the neuroendocrine and immune systems, which also affect the progression of pathological processes. The neurobiological view of diseases is based on the assumption that the nervous system processes signals related to pathological processes in peripheral organs and then consequently modulates it via the autonomic, neuroendocrine, and neuroimmune regulations. The aim of this paper is to explain the basis of the neurobiological view of diseases of the peripheral organs, and then discuss possible therapeutic consequences.

Keywords: immune system; neuroendocrine system; neurobiology of diseases; inflammation

Received: January 10, 2011; Accepted: April 11, 2011; Published: October 1, 2011  Show citation