Occurrence of adrenergic nerve fibers and of noradrenaline in thymus gland of juvenile and aged rats

Cavallotti, Carlo; Artico, Marco; Cavallotti, Daniela

doi:10.1016/s0165-2478(99)00127-3

Cited by 36 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In the deep cortex and medulla, NA nerves are adjacent to the thymic epithelial cells (TEC) [42]. NA nerves coursing in the interlobular septum continue along the venous sinuses, a prominent feature of the thymic medulla [4,5,31,35,38,43,44,45], with the occasional nerve fiber extending from the septa and sinuses into the medullary parenchyma. In the capsule and interlobular septa, NA nerves course adjacent to mast cells [5][6][7]46], CRH-immunoreactive cells [7,47], and ED3 + macrophages [7].…”

Section: Sympathetic Neurotransmission In the Thymusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sympathetic modulation of immunity: Relevance to disease

Bellinger

Millar

Perez

et al. 2008

Cellular Immunology

225

185

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Optimal host defense against pathogens requires cross-talk between the nervous and immune systems. This paper reviews sympathetic-immune interaction, one major communication pathway, and its importance for health and disease. Sympathetic innervation of primary and secondary immune organs is described, as well as evidence for neurotransmission with cells of the immune system as targets. Most research thus far as focused on neural-immune modulation in secondary lymphoid organs, and have revealed complex sympathetic modulation resulting in both potentiation and inhibition of immune functions. SNS-immune interaction may enhance immune readiness during disease-or injury-induced 'fight' responses. Research also indicate that dysregulation of the SNS can significantly affect the progression of immune-mediated diseases. However, a better understanding of neural-immune interactions is needed to develop strategies for treatment of immune-mediated diseases that are designed to return homeostasis and restore normal functioning neural-immune networks.

show abstract

Section: Sympathetic Neurotransmission In the Thymusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sympathetic modulation of immunity: Relevance to disease

Bellinger

Millar

Perez

et al. 2008

Cellular Immunology

225

185

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Given that (1) NA levels in rodent thymi increase with age [42][43][44] and (2) CAs have been suggested to exert an inhibitory influence on thymus via ␤ -and ␣ -adrenoceptors [46,48,49,[272][273][274][275][276] , a causal link between the ageassociated rise in thymic NA level and thymic involution has been suggested [42][43][44]49] . These data, taken together with the findings indicating that peripubertal gonadectomy significantly diminishes NA levels in thymus [38] , indicate that CAs may be considered as one of the putative mediators of sex steroid hormone action on the thymus.…”

Section: Cas and Thymus Agingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that (1) gonadal steroids influence both catecholamine (CA) levels in the thymic cells [36][37][38] and ␤ -adrenoceptor expression on thymic cells [39][40][41] , (2) noradrenaline (NA) levels in rodent thymi increase with age [42][43][44] , so that they have been implicated in controlling thymic involution, and (3) long-lasting blockade of ␤ -as well as ␣ -adrenoceptors most likely affecting distinct developmental steps have a beneficial effect on T cell generation by rat and murine thymus [45][46][47][48][49] , the CAadrenoceptor system has been identified as a putative target for an indirect gonadal steroid hormone action on the thymus. Thus, it seems clear that understanding gonadal steroid hormone role in thymic involution also requires knowledge of mechanisms underlying CA action on the thymus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age-Associated Remodeling of Thymopoiesis: Role for Gonadal Hormones and Catecholamines

Leposavić

Perišić

2008

Neuroimmunomodulation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The present review summarizes recent data on age-related thymic changes termed thymic involution, and highlights the putative role of perturbances in extrathymical and, possibly, intrathymical production of gonadal steroids and catecholamines in this process. Thymic involution has been envisaged as an extremely complex process involving multifactorial mechanisms along the bone marrow-thymic axis that accounts for the major manifestations of immunosenescence. These mechanisms include basic cell aging processes (for example, cell replication and programmed cell death) and processes unique to the immune system (such as generation of the T cell receptor repertoire and control of potentially autoreactive cells). Given that the onset of age-associated thymic involution coincides with the rise in gonadal steroid levels at puberty, a causal link between these events has been suggested. It has been shown that: (1) peripubertal gonadectomy causes substantial decrease in the level of noradrenaline in adult male and female thymus and (2) catecholamines, acting via α- and β-adrenoceptor, produce suppressive effects on the thymic cellularity and production of both effector and regulatory T cells. Furthermore, the possibility that gonadal steroids contribute to thymic involution is discussed in this paper. In light of recent data indicating that effects of gonadal hormone deprivation on the thymic cellularity and function are long lasting but transitory, a putative role for the intrathymic sex steroid/catecholamine production in assuring the organ involution, under conditions of their limited supply by extrathymic sources, is also considered.

show abstract

“…In a variety of adult mammalian species, sympathetic noradrenergic innervation of lymphoid organs, including the thymus and spleen, is associated with the vasculature and is generally directed into zones of lymphocytes, mainly T cells (Felten et al 1985;Kendall and al-Shawaf 1991;Kranz et al 1997;Cavallotti et al 1999).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the adult human and rat thymus, postganglionic sympathetic nerve fibers extend from nerve bundles and plexuses around large blood vessels, travel into the thymic capsule and septa, and further branch into the parenchyma (Felten et al 1985;Kendall 1989;de Leeuw et al 1992;Vizi et al 1995;Kranz et al 1997;Cavallotti et al 1999). Unaccompanied adrenergic nerve fibers have been observed in the cortical thymic parenchyma (Vizi et al 1995) but are extremely sparse in the medulla (Felten et al 1985;Kranz et al 1997).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ontogeny of Intrinsic Innervation in the Human Thymus and Spleen

Anagnostou

Doussis-Anagnostopoulou

Tiniakos

et al. 2007

J Histochem Cytochem.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

S U M M A R YThe ontogeny of the innervation of human lymphoid organs has not been studied in detail. Our aim was to assess the nature and distribution of parenchymal nerves in human fetal thymus and spleen. We used the peroxidase immunohistochemical technique with antibodies specific to neuron-specific enolase (NSE), neurofilaments (NF), PGP9.5, S100 protein, and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and evaluated our results with image analysis. In human fetal thymus, NSE-, NF-, S100-, PGP9.5-, and TH-positive nerves were identified associated with large blood vessels from 18 gestational weeks (gw) onwards, increasing in density during development. Their branches penetrated the septal areas at 20 gw, reaching the cortex and the corticomedullary junction between 20 and 23 gw. Few nerve fibers were seen in the medulla in close association with Hassall's corpuscles. In human fetal spleen, NSE-, NF-, S100-, PGP9.5-, and TH-positive nerve fibers were localized in the connective tissue surrounding the splenic artery at 18 gw. Perivascular NSE-, NF-, S100-, PGP9.5-, and TH-positive nerve fibers were seen extending into the white pulp, mainly in association with the central artery and its branches, increasing in density during gestation. Scattered NSE-, NF-, S100-, PGP9.5-, and THpositive nerve fibers and endings were localized in the red pulp from 18 gw onward. The predominant perivascular distribution of most parenchymal nerves implies that thymic and splenic innervation may play an important functional role during intrauterine life. (J Histochem Cytochem 55:813-820, 2007)

show abstract

Occurrence of adrenergic nerve fibers and of noradrenaline in thymus gland of juvenile and aged rats

Cited by 36 publications

References 17 publications

Sympathetic modulation of immunity: Relevance to disease

Sympathetic modulation of immunity: Relevance to disease

Age-Associated Remodeling of Thymopoiesis: Role for Gonadal Hormones and Catecholamines

Ontogeny of Intrinsic Innervation in the Human Thymus and Spleen

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About