Klaus-Grawe ThinkTank paper [A Danese – JVV & immunity] 1 Childhood Violence Exposure and Inflammatory Disease Processes

1.What is the psychobiological outcome? (e.g., neuropsychological functioning, immune functioning, telomere erosion). Define and describe it briefly. INFLAMMATION. Inflammation is part of the innate immune response, a powerful defense mechanism that enables recognition of evolutionarily-conserved microorganisms ’ antigens and triggers rapid, non-specific response against them without any prior contact. This is possible because innate immune receptors have been shaped through contact with common pathogens by natural selection during our evolutionary past and are encoded through the germ line. Thanks to innate immunity, newborns are protected from pathogens in the environment since birth (1). Inflammation is triggered by ‘inducers’, which could be both exogenous and endogenous (2). The exogenous inducers include the above-mentioned microbial pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and non-microbial factors, such as allergens, irritants, foreign bodies, and toxic compounds. The endogenous inducers include different biological signals produced by stressed, damaged, or otherwise malfunctioning tissues. In response to these signals, the innate immune system develops a non-specific response involving blood vessels, white blood cells, and the so-calle