Cardiac arrest and resuscitation activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and results in severe immunosuppression.

ABSTRACT: In patients who are successfully resuscitated after initial cardiac arrest (CA), mortality and morbidity rates are high, due to ischemia/reperfusion injury to the whole body including the nervous and immune systems. How the interactions between these two critical systems contribute to post-CA outcome remains largely unknown. Using a mouse model of CA and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CA/CPR), we demonstrate that CA/CPR induced neuroinflammation in the brain, in particular, a marked increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines, which subsequently activated the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Importantly, this activation was associated with a severe immunosuppression phenotype after CA. The phenotype was characterized by a striking reduction in size of lymphoid organs accompanied by a

SUBMITTER: Zhao Q 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8054717 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature