Neurogenic Switching Env Health Pros. 1995

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Some of this research that was done prior to 2000 is really interesting

stuff.

_http://www.ehponline.org/members/1995/103-1/meggs-full.html_

(http://www.ehponline.org/members/1995/103-1/meggs-full.html)

Neurogenic Switching: A Hypothesis for a Mechanism for Shifting the Site of

Inflammation in Allergy and Chemical Sensitivity

J. Meggs

Department of Emergency Medicine, East Carolina University School of

Medicine, Greenville, NC 27858 USA and New York City Poison Center, New York, NY

10016 USA

Abstract

Neurogenic switching is proposed as a hypothesis for a mechanism by which a

stimulus at one site can lead to inflammation at a distant site. Neurogenic

inflammation occurs when substance P and other neuropeptides released from

sensory neurons produce an inflammatory response, whereas immunogenic

inflammation results from the binding of antigen to antibody or leukocyte

receptors.

There is a crossover mechanism between these two forms of inflammation.

Neurogenic switching is proposed to result when a sensory impulse from a site

of

activation is rerouted via the central nervous system to a distant location to

produce neurogenic inflammation at the second location. Neurogenic switching

is a possible explanation for systemic anaphylaxis, in which inoculation of

the skin or gut with antigen produces systemic symptoms involving the

respiratory and circulatory systems, and an experimental model of anaphylaxis

is

consistent with this hypothesis. Food-allergy-iducing asthma, urticaria,

arthritis, and fibromyalgia are other possible examples of neurogenic

switching.

Neurogenic switching provides a mechanism to explain how allergens, infectious

agents, irritants, and possibly emotional stress can exacerbate conditions such

as migraine, asthma, and arthritis. Because neurogenic inflammation is known

to be triggered by chemical exposures, it may play a role in the sick

building syndrome and the multiple chemical sensitivity syndrome. Thus

neurogenic

switching would explain how the respiratory irritants lead to symptoms at other

sites in these disorders.

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