The effect of psycho stress on the immune system. Another reason for pursuing animal welfare (Review)

Stress can be seen as the body's most important and complex reaction to ens ure survival. Thus, stress must be considered a fundamentally positive type of adaptive reaction and concepts of stress have to be integral parts in c onsidering animal well-being. It is widely recognized that acute and chronic stress have an impact on the neuroendocrine and immune system, the latter being of special Interest wit h respect to health and welfare of animals. This review intends to provide an integrative approach to the complex relat ionships between stress, behaviour, neuroendocrine and immune system of far m animals. Physiological mechanisms that mediate the effects of stress on i mmune function including basic mechanisms of neuroendocrine-immune network and principles of immunomodulation are presented and discussed in considera tion of their practical impact for livestock production.