Exploration of neuroendocrine and immune gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells

As pathways of communication between the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems are identified, the importance of the interplay of these systems for health and well-being is increasingly recognized. In this study, we created a comprehensive database of 1622 genes likely to be involved in synthetic, biochemical, and regulatory psycho-neuroendocrine-immune (PNI) pathways. Expression of 1058 of these genes was detected in the peripheral blood by querying both a peripheral blood-specific expressed sequence tag (EST) database and a peripheral blood database generated from microarray evaluation of 30,000 genes. Several neural and endocrine genes were expressed in the peripheral blood including hormone receptors, a hormone-responsive transcription factor, and neurotransmitter receptors. These findings document the expression of nervous and endocrine genes in the peripheral blood that have previously only been characterized in the respective system tissues, and indicate that the blood is a rich source of information that should help in deciphering the communication between the mind and the body.