Brain inflammatory cascade controlled by gut-derived molecules

[Andy]

Some immunologists regard the central nervous system (CNS) as a no-man’s-land, avoided by immune cells and therefore uninteresting. But, in fact, the CNS has a vigorous immune potential that remains dormant in normal conditions but is awakened after injury.

The switch that controls the brain’s immune microenvironment involves non-neuronal cells called glia — not only microglia, which are sometimes called the immune cells of the CNS, but also multifunctional cells called astrocytes1. In a paper in Nature, Rothhammer et al.2 describe how these two glial cell types communicate on a molecular level to influence inflammation in the CNS, and show that this interaction is controlled remotely by microbes that inhabit the gut.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-05113-0

 

[Webdog]

Another article about the same Nature research paper.

https://scienceblog.com/501190/new-research-finds-key-players-in-ms-progression/

New research finds key players in MS progression

A new study sheds light on the connection between the gut and the brain by defining pathways that may help guide therapies for multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurologic diseases.

Using both animal models and human cells from patients, researchers untangled the complex interplay that allows the byproducts of microorganisms living in the gut to influence the progression of neurodegenerative diseases. This enabled them to tease out the key players involved in the gut-brain connection as well as in the crosstalk between immune cells and brain cells. This current study is the first to report on how microbial products may act directly on microglia to prevent inflammation.

“It is likely the mechanisms we’ve uncovered are relevant for other neurologic diseases in addition to multiple sclerosis,” said Quintana, who is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School. “These insights could guide us toward new therapies for MS and other diseases.”

Quintana and his colleagues plan to further study the connections to neurologic diseases, and are also optimizing small molecules as well as probiotics to identify additional elements that participate in the pathway and new therapies.