Sleep and the immune system.

Recent animal and human studies show that the immune-neuroendocrine-thermal operations of the body are intimately linked to the sleeping-waking brain. In humans, the diurnal pattern of aspects of both peripheral cellular immune functions, e.g. natural killer cell cytotoxicity, and of cytokines, e.g. interleukin-1, are related to sleep. The harmonious interrelationships of the circadian patterns of the immune, neuroendocrine, thermal and brain functional activities are important for the cause and function of sleep. Disorganization or loss of the sleep-wake system is accompanied by alteration of the immunological, neuroendocrine and thermal functions of the body, and contributes to pathological processes such as infectious disease.