The importance of beta-adrenergic receptors in immune regulation: a link between neuroendocrine and immune system.

Our knowledge of autoimmunity and autoimmune diseases has been advanced in the past decades. Receptors present on the immune cells may potentially regulate the immune system, among them, beta-adrenergic receptors are of special interest. As neurotransmitter receptors which are also present on lymphocytes, beta-adrenergic receptors play an important role as the linkage of two important systems, neuroendocrine and immune systems. Here I summarize several lines of evidence of the importance of the beta-adrenergic receptors in immune regulation. Copyright 2001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.