This volume represents the Proceedings of the Symposium on AIDS, Drugs of Abuse and the Neuroimmune Axis. This meeting was held in San Diego, California, November 11-13, 1995. As in the previous symposia in this series, productive studies were reviewed concerning the relationship between the nervous and the immune systems in regards to the relationship between drugs of abuse and infections, especially infections by the immunode ficiency virus that causes AIDS. In recent years, various investigators have begun to describe the role of illicit drugs and their endogenous counterparts on the brain-immune axis. It is widely recognized that the neuroendocrine system is intimately involved in the effects and manifestations of the interactions of drugs of abuse and the immune system. The meeting on which the chapters in this book are based brought together many biological scientists from an array of various scientific disciplines whose work is focused on the effects of drugs of abuse on the neuroendocrine-immune axis and its relationships to immunodeficiency caused by the AIDS virus. As in the past, the symposium was unique in focusing on the . brain-immune axis from the viewpoint of drugs of abuse rather than from the viewpoint of immunity or the brain itself.

Introduction and Perspectives This volume is based on the proceedings of the 7th annual symposium on the topic Neuroimmune Circuits, Infectious Diseases and Drugs of Abuse, Bethesda, Maryland, Oc- ber 7–9, 1999. This symposium, as in the past, focused on newer knowledge concerning the relationship between the immune and nervous systems with regards to the effects of drugs of abuse and infections, including AIDS, caused by the immunodeficiency virus. Presentations discussed the brain-immune axis from the viewpoint of drugs of abuse rather than from the subject of the brain or immunity alone. The major aim of this series of conferences has been to clarify the consequences of immunomodulation induced by drugs of abuse in regards to susceptibility and pathogenesis of infectious diseases, both in man and in various animal model systems. The recreational use of drugs of abuse such as morphine, cocaine, and marijuana by large numbers of individuals in this country and around the world has continued to arouse serious concerns about the consequences of use of such drugs, especially on the normal physiological responses of an individual, including immune responses. Much of the recent data accumulated by investigators show that drugs of abuse, especially opioids and cannabinoids, markedly alter immune responses in human populations as well as in experimental animals, both in vivo and in vitro.

Introduction and Perspectives This volume represents the Proceedings of the Fifth Annual Symposium on Drugs of Abuse, Immunomodulation, and AIDS. The meeting was held in Nashville, Tennessee, June 12-14, 1997. In this symposium, as in the past, newer knowledge was reviewed concerning the relationship between the immune and the nervous systems with regard to the effects of drugs of abuse. This symposium focused on the relationship between the immune system and the nervous system with regard to the effects of drugs of abuse and infections such as the immunodeficiency virus that causes AIDS. As in the past symposia, presentations fo cused on the brain-immune axis from the viewpoint of drugs of abuse rather than from the subject of the brain or immunity alone. The aim of this series of conferences has been to clarify the consequences ofimmunomodulation induced by drugs of abuse on susceptibility and pathogenesis of infectious diseases, both in man and in various animal model systems. Recreational use of drugs of abuse, such as morphine, cocaine, and marijuana, as well as alcohol, by large numbers of individuals in this country and around the world has aroused serious concerns about the consequences of use of such drugs, especially on the normal physiological responses of an individual, including immune mechanisms. It is now widely known that many drugs of abuse, including marijuana, are used by millions ofindi viduals in this country and by even more abroad.

This volume is based on the program of the Second International Conference on Drugs of Abuse, Immunity and AIDS, held in Clearwater Beach, FL in June 1992. The Conference was supported in part by the University of South Florida College of MediCine with financial assistance from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The focus of this conference was the effects of drugs of abuse on immunity. It is now widely recognized that psychoactive drugs of abuse, including marijuana, cocaine, and opiates, as well as alcohol, have marked effects in an individual, including effects on their nervous system and behavior. In the past two decades, the scope of studies concerning the effects of some drugs of abuse have also involved investigations of alterations of various physiologic parameters including effects on the immune system. and the influence of such immune alterations on normal physiological responses. In this regard, participants in this Second International Conference provided newer information concerning both basic and clinical aspects of drugs of abuse and immunity, especially immunodeficiencies. In this regard, advances have been made in recent years concerning the nature and mechanisms whereby the immune system is regulated and the possible mechanisms by which drugs of abuse influence such immune systems. In particular, the emergence of psychoneuroimmunology as a new discipline the last decade has heightened interest in the immune responses influenced by psychoactive drugs. This has resulted in interdisciplinary investigations involving both clinical and basic scientists, including microbiologists, immunologists, physiologists, psychiatrists, oncologists, psychologists, etc.

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