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B. Yankovich. Thereafter, the International Society of Neuroimmunomodulation
(ISNIM) was instituted. Its first elected president was Herbert Spector (USA), to
whom the honor of founding the
Journal of Neuroimmunomodulation
belongs.
Spector, together with ISNIM vice-presidents B. Yankovich, E. Korneva, and
V. Pierpaoli, has significantly contributed to the important task of uniting researchers
active in the field of neuroimmunomodulation.
At the same time, due to efforts of R. Ader and I. Solomon, the Society of
Psychoneuroimmunology was organized in the USA and the journal
Brain, Behavior
and Immunity
was launched. Ader was the first president of the Society and editor-
in-chief of the journal (
Figure 2.1
).
2.7 Conclusions
The initial steps in the field that became immunophysiology were difficult in virtu-
ally all countries because of a sort of aversion to this research direction. As often
happens, progress in the ways of thought lagged behind progress in the meth-
ods of science and research. Skepticism was especially typical of immunologists,
which is explainable by the fact that most of their studies of processes occurring in
the immune system were conducted in test tubes. At the same time, physiologists
believed, following the general approach typical for their discipline, that no system
in the body functions entirely independently; given this mindset, it was easier for
them to accept new ideas. On the whole, all pathfinders in the field of immunology
had to be steadfast and inventive to overcome the generally entrenched conservatism
of the scientific community.
Recent basic and applied developments in this field have deepened our insights
into the mechanisms that are involved in neuroimmune interaction. The signal-
receptor problem is being addressed intensively. The use of modern accurate and
informative experimental techniques has made it possible to obtain data that pro-
vide solid evidence for neuroimmune interaction. Some of the problems are now
being addressed by cutting-edge experimental techniques, including the use of DNA
microarrays for studies at the genomic level [127].
Many aspects of immunophysiology developed in parallel, though some of them
went somewhat ahead. This does not allow presentation of the facts exactly as they
occurred in time; however, the logic of their occurrence is reflected, in principle, by
this review.
Current progress in the field of immunophysiology (
Figure 2.2
) is characterized
by intense studies of very diverse aspects of the problem, ranging from the molec-
ular mechanisms of interactions between the neuroendocrine and immune systems
to the clinical manifestations of neuroimmune disturbances. The search for thera-
peutic means to correct such disturbances is ongoing. Although it is impossible to
present (or even mention) all of the developments and achievements occurring world-
wide, the recent topic of Neuroimmune Biology, Volume 9 covers a broad spectrum
of these studies within the scope of a brief review.
