Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012 Apr;59(4):755-62.
doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.111.186833. Epub 2012 Feb 13.

Autonomic neural regulation of the immune system: implications for hypertension and cardiovascular disease

François M Abboud  1 , Sailesh C Harwani, Mark W Chapleau
Affiliations
Review

Autonomic neural regulation of the immune system: implications for hypertension and cardiovascular disease

François M Abboud et al. Hypertension. 2012 Apr.
No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mechanisms involved in excessive sympathetic activity and reduced parasympathetic activity in cardiovascular disease. This dysautonomia is associated with increased morbidity and mortality [11].
Figure 2
Figure 2
The triangle reflects the convergence of the neural and immunological mechanisms in cardiovascular disease. It can be either a “Death Triangle” with excessive sympathetic and RAAS activities that enhance the inflammatory immune response and increase mortality, or a “Survival Triangle” with enhanced parasympathetic activity which has been shown to suppress the inflammatory immune response and prolong survival.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Centrally-driven increase in splenic sympathetic nerve discharge (SND) by Ang II infusions (ICV) induces a marked increase in splenic gene expression of several cytokines. Selective splenic denervation abrogates the responses while the increase in renal SND is preserved. Adapted from Ganta et al. [48].
Figure 4
Figure 4
A: Subdiaphragmatic vagotomy induces pronounced NFκB-activation in the colon in vivo over a period of 4 weeks (w) post-vagotomy. Adapted from Omahony et al. [49]. B: Vagotomy results in a significant increase in gene expression of IFNγ, TNF, and IL-6 in isolated splenic murine CD4+T lymphocytes. Adapted from Karimi et al. [50].
Figure 5
Figure 5
The autonomic, neurohumoral sympathetic and vagal signals regulate both the innate and adaptive immune cells. The activation of cholinergic (nAChR), adrenergic (α/β ADR) or angiotensin receptors (AT1R) on innate cells may dramatically alter the TLR-mediated cytokine release in pathologic states such as hypertension [43]. This, in turn, activates the adaptive cytotoxic T-lymphocytes, which cause end-organ damage in blood vessels and kidney. [42, 44, 60].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abboud FM. The sympathetic system in hypertension. State-of-the-art review. Hypertension. 1982;4:208–225. - PubMed
    1. Esler M. The sympathetic nervous system through the ages: from Thomas Willis to resistant hypertension. Exp Physiol. 2011;96:611–622. - PubMed
    1. Guyenet PG. The sympathetic control of blood pressure. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2006;7:335–346. - PubMed
    1. Mancia G, Grassi G, Giannattasio C, Seravalle G. Sympathetic activation in the pathogenesis of hypertension and progression of organ damage. Hypertension. 1999;34:724–728. - PubMed
    1. Somers VK, Dyken ME, Clary MP, Abboud FM. Sympathetic neural mechanisms in obstructive sleep apnea. J Clin Invest. 1995;96:1897–1904. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms