Lecture 14 - PNI Part 1

Question 1

what is Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

Answer 1

Refers the interactions between behavioural,
neuroendocrine, and immunological processes of adaptation.

Study of the links between psychological states and functioning of the immune system and the implications of these linkages for physical health and disease
• What is the link? The CNS

Question 2

give a definition of PNI in layman terms

Answer 2

Links psychology (mind) and medicine (body)

Question 3

who is involved in PNI

Answer 3

Bridges communication between social scientists, immunologists, neuroscientists, and health care practitioners

Question 4

PNI- Interdisciplinary research that examines and explains immune function in terms of:

Answer 4

• Biological factors
• Psychological factors
• Social factors

Question 5

what are the The Beginnings of PNI (1)

Answer 5

Observations by Ishigami (1919):

• Disease found to worsen by stress • Influences of personality

Question 6

what are The Beginnings of PNI (2)

Answer 6

long term stress -> enlarged adrenal cortex (cortisol) -> ulceration of the stomach (cortisol leads to tissue damage)

Question 7

what is the Current View of Most Ulcers (70%)

Answer 7

Caused by Helicobacter pylori (2005 Nobel Prize for Physiology to Barry Marshall and J. Robin Warren)
a bacteria

Question 8

what is the current view of interactions with stress (ulcers)

Answer 8

long term stress -> gastric mucosal inflammation and erosion -> allows for H. Pylori to flourish (causing further damage to to GI lining) -> ulcers

Question 9

who coined PNI

Answer 9

Coined by Robert Ader and Nicholas Cohen in the late 1970s

Question 10

explain the PNI: Background and Foundation

Answer 10

Discovery of connection between NS and IS

Book: Ader, Cohen, & Felten: 1985:

Candace Pert PNI, 1981 (Discovery of close connection between brain and IS)

Question 11

what is the Immune System

Answer 11

Collection of organs, cells and tissues that work together to protect your body from disease caused mostly by pathogens (bacteria, viruses,
parasites and fungi).

Question 12

what is Immunity:

Answer 12

• Body’s resistance to injury from invading organisms

Question 13

what are the Terms for Intruders:

Answer 13

antigens and pathogens

Question 14

what are antigens

Answer 14

o Specific molecules from invading microbes (bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi, but also pollen, house dust…)
o Anything that is foreign to our physiology

Question 15

what are paothogens

Answer 15

Micro-organisms that have potential to cause disease

Question 16

Physical Barriers to entry

Answer 16

Skin
• Upper respiratory tract
• Protective reflexes: coughing, sneezing
• Stomach • Intestines

Question 17

what are the two types of immunity

Answer 17

non-specific immunity and specific immunity

Question 18

explain non-specific immunity

Answer 18

The Inflammatory Response – Healing a Wound

• bacteria and other pathogens enter the wound
• platelets from blood release blood clotting proteins at wound site
• delivery of blood, plasma and cells to injured area increases
• neutrophils and macrophages remove pathogens
• macrophages secrete hormones called cytokines that attract immune system cells to the site and activate cells involved in tissue repair
• inflammatory response continues until foreign material is eliminated and the wound is repaired

Question 19

what is specificities immunity

Answer 19

Certain lymphocytes (B, T) are adapted to an antigen.

1. memory; Lymphocytes remember it React to it more strongly
2. Specificity; B and T cells respond to specific antigens only
   there are many and each responds to something different (the antigen)
3. Tolerance; B and T cells do not react to the body’s own cells, or “self”
   don’t want them to react to anything natural in the body but sometimes it does

Question 20

what is Autoimmune diseases:

Answer 20

immune response against an organism’s own cells and tissues

Question 21

what are some examples of Autoimmune diseases

Answer 21

Rheumatoid arthritis
Coeliac disease
Diabetes type 1 (permanent destruction of insulin producing beta
cells of the pancreas)
• Systemic lupus
• MS
• Rheumatoid arthritis
• Morbus Crohn (Crohn’s disease

Produced by infection: AIDS

Question 22

what is Rheumatoid arthritis

Answer 22

Strikes primarily middle-aged and elderly adults

Question 23

what are the parts to Measuring Immune System Function

Answer 23

IV- Some psychological state
• Naturally occurring or experimentally induced

Dependent variable
Usually a measure of
immunocompetence
• Counting cells
• Measuring cells in action

Question 24

explain Measuring the Effectiveness of the Immune System: Immunocompetence

Answer 24

Usually the dependent variable in PNI studies
Measures via two types of tests
(1) Enumerative assay:
(2) Test of Immune Function

Question 25

explain (1) Enumerative assay: count cells for:

Answer 25

Minimum number for adequate functioning

Balance among types

Question 26

explain (2) Test of Immune Function:

Answer 26

looks at the cells in action

Question 27

what re the two ways to look at (2) Test of Immune Function:

Answer 27

in vitro and in vivo

Question 28

what is In vitro

Answer 28

1. Introduce mitogen
   • chemical substance that encourages cell division
2. Measure subsequent lymphocyte stimulation (through
   cell counting)
   o For NK cells: cell count after introduction of tumour cells

Question 29

what is In vivo

Answer 29

• Measure antibody production,

* Commonly through herpes virus injection