Immune-neuroendocrine correlations: a new aspect in human physiology

The neural, endocrine, neuroendocrine and immune system are part of a complex network involved in the maintenance of the body homeostasis. Many experimental evidences suggest that cytokines are able to cause the hormonal changes during inflammation. The clinical evidences of the interaction between immune system and hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis are based on the sexual dimorphism existing in the immune response, the prevalence of autoimmune diseases in females and the altered immune response during pregnancy. Even if both humoral and cellular immunity are involved, the action of estradiol and progesterone is mainly exerted on mononuclear cells.