Affiliations: [a] Department of Biology of Reproduction, DCBS, The Metropolitan Autonomous University-Iztapalapa, Mexico City, Mexico | [b] Department of Neurochemistry, National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery “Dr. Manuel Velasco Suarez”, Mexico City, Mexico | [c] National Institute of Pediatrics, Mexico City, Mexico
Correspondence:
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Correspondence to: Marcela Arteaga-Silva, Department of Biology of Reproduction, DCBS, The Metropolitan Autonomous University-Iztapalapa, Mexico City, Mexico. E-mail: asm@xanum.uam.mx.
Abstract: The neuroendocrine-immune network is composed by the immune, nervous and endocrine systems; it regulates a number of different physiological processes such as fertility, gestation, immune response, and behavior, among others. An unbalanced network could result in the compromised function of the previously mentioned physiological processes besides potentially inducing inflammatory diseases or depressive behavior. Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic metal whose effects extend over the network’s components affecting the function of the hypothalamus, hypophysis, suprarenal glands and gonads, as well as of immune cells and the organism in general. Cd toxicity is mostly due to oxidative stress; however, this metal is also a known endocrine disruptor interfering with hormone synthesis and signaling in addition to several metabolic processes. In the present manuscript we review the direct effect of Cd toxicity on various components of the neuroendocrine-immune network as well as some of its derived pathological consequences.
