Psychological stress and immune dysregulation: Insights from neuroimmunology and the gut-brain-immune axis.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing mechanistic pathways without systematic search or new empirical data
PubMed 42114655 · doi:10.1016/j.bbr.2026.116268
What was done
This is a narrative review synthesizing literature on the biological mechanisms connecting psychological stress, depression, neuroimmunology, and the gut-brain-immune axis. The authors examined neural pathways (prefrontal-limbic and brainstem-autonomic circuits), neurotransmitter signaling (serotonin, norepinephrine), autonomic nervous system activity, and gut microbiota dynamics (microbial composition, intestinal barrier integrity, and metabolites) that modulate systemic inflammation and cellular immunity.
What was found
The abstract reports no quantitative data, sample sizes, or statistical effect sizes. It qualitatively describes mechanisms through which chronic stress and depression associate with altered immune markers, systemic inflammation, and gut microbial dysbiosis, noting these interactions are complex and not strictly causal.
Why it matters
It provides a conceptual framework linking psychological states, neural circuitry, and microbiome-derived signals to systemic inflammation, highlighting integrated therapeutic avenues targeting mental health and gut-immune pathways simultaneously.
Limits
The review is non-systematic and does not report search parameters, study selection criteria, or quantitative synthesis. As a secondary conceptual overview, it provides no original clinical or experimental human data to establish causality.
Cited by
- supports Chronic psychological stress causes increased intestinal permeability (leaky gut) and alters the gut microbiome composition.