Surprising new link between inflammation and mental illness
More than 75% of patients withSystemic lupus erythematosus“, which is an incurable autoimmune disorder with a generic name Lupus is, they experience having nervous symptoms. So far our findings of the mechanism Lupus The essence that has effects on the brain remains dark.
Now, in new research from Boston Children’s Hospital, the mystery has been solved, and a new drug has been given a potential score to protect the brain from the neurological effects of lupus and other central nervous system disorders.
In general, patients with lupus have a wide range of neurological symptoms including: anxiety, depression, headache, seizures and even madness. Dr. Alison Bialas, the first author of this study from Boston Children’s Hospital, says: “The reasons for these symptoms are not clear. Even for a long period of time, it was not acceptable to believe that these symptoms were related to this disorder.”
In total, the neurological symptoms of lupus are known as lupus of the central nervous system or CNS. It will surprise the team if there are changes in the immune system in patients with Lupus It appears to directly cause these symptoms from a pathological point of view.
1- How does chronic inflammation affect the brain?
At least 1.5 million Americans have lupus; This disease causes the immune system to attack body tissues and organs; As a result, the body’s white blood cells cause the release of a small type of cytokine protein (called interferon alpha), which is known as a systemic warning, and triggers a cascade of additional immune activities that connect with receptors in different tissues.
Until now, it was not thought that this protein turnover could pass through the cerebral blood stream; The transfer of substances between the circulation and the fluids of the central nervous system is controlled by a highly selective membrane. Dr. Carroll, a pediatrician at Harvard Medical School, says: “There has been no indication of any type of interferon entering the brain and sending immune cells to respond to them.
While working with a mouse model of lupus, Dr. Carroll’s team discovered that due to changes in the brain, there is enough interferon-alpha to penetrate the blood-brain barrier. Once against the barrier, microglia (immune defense cells of the central nervous system) are launched into an attack mode on the brain’s neural synapses, which causes synapses to be lost in the frontal cortex.
“We found a mechanism directly related to inflammation in mental illness,” says Dr. Carroll. This discovery has major implications for a range of central nervous system disorders.
2- Blocking the effect of inflammation on the brain
The research team decided that if they could block the effects of interferon-alpha receptors by administering a drug, they might be able to reduce the number of lost synapses. This medicine is called“anti-IFNARThey say Remarkably, the team found that anti-IFNAR did not appear to have neuroprotective effects in mice with lupus.
What else?… They noticed that the mice that received this drug were treated for behavioral symptoms associated with mental illness, such as anxiety and cognitive effects. Future studies need to determine exactly how interferon-alpha crosses the blood-brain barrier.
The findings of this research were published for future clinical treatments and to investigate drug effects on central nervous system lupus and other disorders of this system. One type of these drugs called “anifrulumab” is being evaluated in a phase one for the clinical treatment of 3 patients, for other aspects of lupus.
Dr. Bialas says: “We observed that in other disorders, such as schizophrenia, microglia are reduced, and as a result, this allows us to link lupus with other disorders of the central nervous system. Lupus of the central nervous system is not just a group of defined neurological symptoms;
This is a serious disorder of the brain and we can potentially treat it. Its implications go beyond lupus; Because inflammation underlies many disorders and conditions, from Alzheimer’s to chronic stress.
Translated by: Sima Azad Falah
Rewriting: Farzaneh Pashaei
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