What is it about?
Researchers studied how the body’s nervous system helps control inflammation, focusing on a process known as the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway. This pathway was thought to involve nerves directly interacting with immune cells in the spleen. But in this study using mice, it was found that key molecules of this system were actually not present in the spleen—even during inflammation caused by bacterial toxins. Instead, they found these components in nerve cells throughout the body. This suggests that the inflammation-fighting signals might work through different routes than previously believed.
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Photo by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Unsplash
Why is it important?
Their results challenge older ideas and propose a new model where this anti-inflammatory process mainly happens outside the spleen.
Perspectives
Based on the current data, we propose that no irrefutable evidence exists supporting direct cholinergic signaling in splenic cells. Moving forward, research on the neural control of immunity should focus on how cholinergic signaling in extrasplenic sites, including autonomic neurons, rather than immune cells, inhibit inflammation.
Laurent Gautron
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The molecular components of the anti-inflammatory cholinergic pathway are extrasplenic, PLOS One, September 2025, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0331707.
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