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Cutaneous Surgical Denervation: A Method for Testing the Requirement for Nerves in Mouse Models of Skin Disease
Published on: June 26, 2016
Neuroendocrinology of the skin
Theoharis C Theoharides1,2,3, Julia M Stewart4, Alexandra Taracanova4,5
1Department of Integrative Physiology and Pathobiology, Molecular Immunopharmacology and Drug Discovery Laboratory, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Suite J304, Boston, MA, 02111, USA. theoharis.theoharides@tufts.edu.
Abstract:
The skin is considered the mirror of the soul and is affected by neurohormonal triggers, especially stress. Hair follicles, keratinocytes, mast cells, melanocytes, and sebocytes all express sex and stress hormones implicating them in a local "hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis." In particular, the peptides corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and neurotensin (NT) have synergistic action stimulating mast cells and are uniquely elevated in the serum of patients with skin diseases exacerbated by stress. Addressing the neurohormonal regulation of skin function could lead to new targets for effective treatment of inflammatory skin diseases.
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