Dopamine by itself activates either D2, D3 or D1/D5 dopaminergic receptors in normal human T-cells and triggers the selective secretion of either IL-10, TNFα or both

Dopamine's unique ability to trigger a selective secretion of either TNFα only (via D3R) or IL-10 only (via D2R) or both (via D1/D5R), differs from the robust and non-selective cytokine-secretion induced by 'classical' TCR-activation, and as such may have important beneficial or detrimental implications in various immunological and neurological diseases/injuries/cancers.