Cholinergic signalling in gut immunity

Abstract

The gut immune system shares many signalling molecules and receptors with the autonomic nervous system. A good example is the vagal neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh), for which many immune cell types express cholinergic receptors (AChR). In the last decade the vagal nerve has emerged as an integral part of an immune regulation network via its release of ACh; a system coined "the cholinergic anti-inflammatory reflex". The perspective of cholinergic immune regulation in the gut mucosa has been widened by the recent discovery of populations of ACh producing immune cells in the spleen and other organs. As such, ACh, classically referred to as neurotransmitter, may serve a much broader function as bi-directional signalling molecule between neurons and non-neuronal cell types of the immune system.