A new approach to antiviral therapy

A new approach to antiviral therapy is proposed, taking advantage of the recently investigated innervation of immune tissues by the sympathetic nervous system, which establishes a functional connection between the nervous and the immune system, where the sympathetic nervous system exerts a varying tonic inhibitory influence on cellular activation via secretion of norepinephrine and reception thereof by beta-receptors on leukocytes. Simultaneous beta-adrenergic blockade of leukocytes and stress-related centres of the central nervous system (paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus) is suggested as immunoactivating therapy in presence of foreign antigen. Immunoactivation is newly defined as facilitated activation of the immune system in presence of foreign antigen and is theoretically correlated with indirect antiviral and antitumoral activity.