The neuroimmune-endocrine axis: pathophysiological implications for the central nervous system cytokines and hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal hormone dynamics

Cytokines are molecules that were initially discovered in the immune system as mediators of communication between various types of immune cells. However, it soon became evident that cytokines exert profound effects on key functions of the central nervous system, such as food intake, fever, neuroendocrine regulation, long-term potentiation, and behavior. In the 80's and 90's our group and others discovered that the genes encoding various cytokines and their receptors are expressed in vascular, glial, and neuronal structures of the adult brain. Most cytokines act through cell surface receptors that have one transmembrane domain and which transduce a signal through the JAK/STAT pathway. Of particular physiological and pathophysiological relevance is the fact that cytokines are potent regulators of hypothalamic neuropeptidergic systems that maintain neuroendocrine homeostasis and which regulate the body's response to stress. The mechanisms by which cytokine signaling affects the function of stress-related neuroendocrine systems are reviewed in this article.

Leptina: una hormona del tejido adiposo / Leptin: an hormone from the adipose tissue

Se revisa la fisiología de la leptina, hormona que interviene en la regulación de la ingesta de alimentos y del balance energético. Se describe su patrón secretorio durante la vida intrauterina, la infancia y adolescencia. Se analizan las alteraciones que presenta esta hormona en algunas enfermedades como la obesidad exógena y la anorexia nervosa. Se detallan algunas perspectivas futuras para esta hormona