Autoimmune pathology accounts for common manifestations in a wide range of neuro

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Autoimmune pathology accounts for common manifestations in a wide

range of neuro-psychiatric disorders: the olfactory and immune system

interrelationship

Moscavitch SD, Szyper-Kravitz M, Shoenfeld Y.

Clin Immunol. 2009 Mar;130(3):235-43.

Smell has traditionally been considered a less important sense when

compared to sight or hearing, but recent research has unraveled

important features inherent to the sense of smell. Once considered

just a chemical sensor for sampling the environment, data from animal

models and human studies currently imply numerous and complex effects

of smell on behavior, mood, and on the immune response. In this

review we discuss a possible inter-relationship between olfactory

impairment, autoimmunity and neurological/psychiatric symptoms in

several diseases affecting the central nervous system (CNS) such as

Parkinson, Alzheimer's disease, autism, schizophrenia, multiple

sclerosis and neuropsychiatric lupus erythematosus. We suggest that

common manifestations are not mere coincidences. Current data from

animal models show that neuropsychiatric manifestations are

intimately associated with smell impairment, and autoimmune

dysregulation, via autoantibodies (anti-NMDAR, anti-ribosomal P) or

other mechanisms. From clues of pathological manifestations, we

propose a novel approach to the understanding of the interactions

between the CNS, the smell and the immune system.

PMID: 19097945