Ivan Semeniuk’s article reads ”Toronto researchers discover how immune cells use
neurochemicals to fight infection”. The title is misleading for a couple of reasons. First, the
pluralization of the word “neurochemicals” implies that the researchers discovered more than
one neurochemical involved in fighting infection, when in fact only one neurochemical was
discussed in the article, acetylcholine. While there may be more than one neurochemical
involved in the immune response to infection, for the purpose of this article and its summary of
Dr.Mak’s research, there is just one neurochemical (acetylcholine) that should be (and is)
focused on. Secondly, the article title also suggests that neurochemicals play an active role in
fighting infection, which for some readers may have the connotation that neurochemicals are
responsible for destroying the infection. The role of acetylcholine is clarified in the article later
on, in that it dilates blood vessels to allow T-cells to progress from the vasculature to the site of
infection into the tissue. To better clarify the contents of the article, the title should read
“Toronto researchers discover how immune cells use a neurotransmitter during infection
response”.
Despite clarifying the role of acetylcholine, the article does not discuss acetylcholine’s
regulatory role in the immune response. Rosas-Ballina et al. states that the vagus nerve upon
electrical stimulation inhibits cytokine release, and therefore attenuates an inflammatory
response1. Additionally, the study by Rosas-Ballina et al. explains that the anti-inflammatory
response not only requires the action potential of the spleen but also acetylcholine’s interaction
with the ɑ7 subunit of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors on macrophages. Acetycholine’s
interaction with macrophages, and its regulatory roles should have been discussed in the article,
or at least alluded to. Additionally, Semeniuk included a statement from Dr. John Bienestock, a
professor of neuroimmunology at McMaster, who pointed out that acetylcholine’s role needed
