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In-Depth Information
of immunological processes as a part of integral body responses in higher animals.
CNS activation predominantly stimulated these processes, whereas CNS suppression
was associated, in most cases, with inhibition
[5-9]
. These investigations produced
firm evidence for the regulation of immune function by the CNS. Although these
studies did not analyze specific mechanisms of neural immunoregulation, they did
lay the foundation for further development in the field.
From the modern standpoint, it is easy to find defects in the aforementioned stud-
ies. Nevertheless, the intention to study neural influences on immunity is evident in
them, and many of them did reveal such influences. At present, a major area of inter-
est is study of the relationship between immune function and CNS activity in new-
born animals and babies. Abnormalities have been proven to be of genetic origin.
An unfortunate historical event led to a serious setback in the development of
immunophysiology in Russia. The so-called United Session of the USSR Academies
of Science and Medical Sciences on Physiology, which was held in 1950, declared
only a single line of the development of physiology to be promising, which was
Pavlovian physiology. This was indeed a promising and important line of research,
and one that is still being developed. However, the session condemned and actually
banned other lines of development in physiology. This restriction retarded progress
in Russia and severely hampered the development of immunophysiology.
2.4 Consolidation of the Science of Immunophysiology
After the United Session, a number of studies focused on the modulation of immune
responses by conditioned reflexes. Many of the studies produced crude results; others
were carried out inappropriately. An additional difficulty was that the level of knowl-
edge in and development of contemporary immunology could not provide adequate
insights into this problem. As a result, a long-term discussion based on facts as well
as concepts arose, involving such prominent scientists as Dolin and Krylov, Ado and
Ishimova, Gordiyenko and co-authors, Zilber, Zdrodovskiy, and others
[10-14]
.
This turbulent history, and the fact that there are still unresolved questions, attest to
the fact that the field of immunophysiology centers on highly complex and exception-
ally difficult problems. Such a situation is not unique in science, particularly when
a problem is investigated before adequate conceptual and technical means become
available to properly address the questions involved. The combination of all these fac-
tors led to skepticism that significantly inhibited further developments in the field.
In the 1960s, investigations into the role of the CNS in the regulation of immuno-
logical processes intensified, due to several factors:
1.
Clinical observations supported the interaction of mental, neurological, and immune mech-
anisms in patients with autoimmune diseases. American scientist George Solomon was the
pioneer in this field
[15,16]
.
2.
The development of basic immunology made it possible to design a battery of tests for the
determination of various components of the immune system, and to investigate in detail
the mechanisms of action of neuroendocrine parameters on immune function both
in vitro
and
in vivo.
