Stress in the thymous and the immune response, a bibliographic review from psychoimmunoendocrinology

Introduction: psychoneuroimmunoendocrinology is an integrative science that focuses on immunity as a physical-biochemical and psychological problem. The immune response is the mechanism with which the body reacts against foreign substances. Stress is the body's way of responding to any type of demand. One of the structures affected by stress is the thymus gland. Objective: to describe the influence of stress on the thymus and the immune response from a psychoneuroimmunoendocrinological perspective. Method: a search was carried out in the databases Scopus, PubMed, Medgrphic, Science Direct, Schoolar Google, Scielo, and in updated scientific books and journals. 26 bibliographies were selected, mainly from the last 5 years. Development: the sympathetic nervous system, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the immune system with the thymus as one of its central organs, in integration with its components, are the material basis of the immune response. Psychological stress can alter the immune response through direct innervation of lymphoid organs. These effects have disastrous consequences for homeostasis, resulting in the appearance of diseases and the weakening of the immune response in periods of human ontogeny. Conclusions: stress causes lymphocytopenia, a decrease in monocytes, macrophages, mast cells, T cells, NK cells and involution of the thymus, which has a negative impact on thymopoiesis, causing immunosenescence and favoring the development of various pathologies. Psychoneuroendocrinoimmunological procedures constitute a range of therapeutic-diagnostic options for multiple diseases, from Medicina Alter.