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Cited by 383Vagus Nerve Stimulation ResearchNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration MechanismsTryptophan and brain disorders

A body–brain circuit that regulates body inflammatory responses

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Jin, Hao, Li, Mengtong, Jeong, Eric, Castro-Martinez, Felipe, Zuker, Charles S.·2024·Nature
DOI 10.1038/s41586-024-07469-yPMC PMC11186780
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Abstract

. Here we show that a peripheral immune insult strongly activates the body-brain axis to regulate immune responses. We demonstrate that pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines communicate with distinct populations of vagal neurons to inform the brain of an emerging inflammatory response. In turn, the brain tightly modulates the course of the peripheral immune response. Genetic silencing of this body-brain circuit produced unregulated and out-of-control inflammatory responses. By contrast, activating, rather than silencing, this circuit affords neural control of immune responses. We used single-cell RNA sequencing, combined with functional imaging, to identify the circuit components of this neuroimmune axis, and showed that its selective manipulation can effectively suppress the pro-inflammatory response while enhancing an anti-inflammatory state. The brain-evoked transformation of the course of an immune response offers new possibilities in the modulation of a wide range of immune disorders, from autoimmune diseases to cytokine storm and shock.

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  • Acute inflammatory cytokines act as messengers to brain immune cells and signals to other local immune cells.

    “but when acute, act as messengers to brain immune cells and signals to other local immune cells [44–46].”

    From Alzheimer’s disease-associated protective variant Plcg2-P522R modulates peripheral macrophage function in a sex-dimorphic manner (2024) · cites this paper as [45]

    The Discussion and “Vagal responses to immune cytokines” sections say cytokines convey inflammatory information to the brain through vagal neurons. They do not identify brain immune cells as the recipients or establish that cytokines signal to other local immune cells in this context. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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References 83 · Cited by 383

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Authors
Jin, H., Li, M., Jeong, E., Castro-Martinez, F., & Zuker, C. S.
Affiliations
  • National Institutes of Health (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
Corresponding author
  • Jin, Hao
  • Zuker, Charles S.
ORCID
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2024-05-01
Volume
630
Issue
8017
Pages
695-703
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/s41586-024-07469-y
PMC
PMC11186780
OpenAlex
W4396540795
Cited by
383
References
83
Citations by year
2026: 159 · 2025: 161 · 2024: 63
FWCI
59.76
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Vagus Nerve Stimulation Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Biological Psychiatry › Tryptophan and brain disorders
Keywords
neuroimmune axis, vagus nerve, vagal afferent neurons, cytokines, pro-inflammatory response, anti-inflammatory response, immune regulation, cytokine storm, shock, autoimmune disease
MeSH terms
RNA-Seq, Single-Cell Gene Expression Analysis, Animals, Brain, Female, Inflammation, Male, Mice, Inbred C57BL, Neurons, Vagus Nerve, Neuroimmunomodulation, Cytokines, Mice, Single-Cell Analysis

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