Abstracts of the 4th International Conference on Neuroendocrine Immunology in Rheumatic Diseases, Translation from Basics to Clinics. May 8-10, 2009. Santa Margherita Ligure, Genova, Italy.

摘要

The purpose of this fourth international conference is to bring together people from all over the world that are interested in the complex interactions of the nervous system, the endocrine system, the vascular system and of course the immune system that lead to inflammatory processes, ultimately resulting in clinical symptoms of rheumatic diseases. Being interested in these complex interactions means formulating a hypothesis and then seeking evidence in basic or clinical research, to review or to confirm that hypothesis. In other words, finding evidence with the ultimate goal to decrease the burden of rheumatic diseases. During this congress we will discuss with each other the hypotheses, the models we have come up with, we will explain each other why we think this might be relevant and we will show the evidence that we have collected. The size of this congress and the beautiful surroundings will enable us to really discuss the evidence presented and to expand our collective knowledge in this field. This is what we so successfully did during the previous meetings of our group and as a small introduction I will highlight some aspects from our previous activities.