[Immunity, neuropeptides and psychiatry]

The author proposes and defends new lines in psychiatric research, aimed not primarily at the study of etiology but of pathogeny. Two systems recognize self from non self: the nervous and the immune systems. These communicate with each other by means of hormones, growth factors, neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. The biochemical family of the neuropeptides therefore plays an important role in the transmission of this information and participates in the complex regulatory mechanisms which insure the physical and psychical equilibrium of the individual. Disorders of such regulation lead to or participate in the psychosomatic diseases and to psychiatric pathology. The author proposes that, in order to elucidate the normal complex regulatory mechanisms, one should first carry out studies on neuropeptides in primitive living organisms and observe the functional capacities of lymphocytes and thymocytes from psychiatric patients.