The ‘guardians’ that balance immune system response

The immune system plays a crucial role in protecting our bodies from infections and injuries.

When functioning normally, it efficiently defends against harmful invaders, such as bacteria and viruses. However, there are instances when the immune system becomes overactive or misdirected, leading it to attack healthy tissues and organs.

This misguided attack can result in autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis (MS), among others.

Recent research has shed light on a fascinating connection between the brain and the immune system.

Scientists discovered that the brain and spinal cord produce special proteins known as “guardian peptides.” These peptides help regulate the immune response, ensuring that it remains balanced and does not harm the body’s own tissues.

This discovery opens up intriguing possibilities for treatment …

‘Guardian’ peptides help manage the immune system

There’s a constant conversation between the brain and the immune system to ensure adequate defense against threats while protecting healthy tissue.

Researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis studied this relationship in mice and made significant findings regarding how these guardian peptides interact with the immune system.

Peptides

According to Dr. Jonathan Kipnis, one of the leading researchers, guardian brain peptides actively monitor the immune system. They help to prevent potentially destructive immune responses by providing signals about threats.

For instance, when an immune cell detects danger, it displays a small protein fragment from that danger on its surface. This fragment serves as a warning to T cells, which evaluate whether the threat is significant enough to warrant an immune attack.

However, guardian peptides come into play to help regulate this process, attracting a subset of T cells that serve to calm down the immune response and prevent it from turning against the body.

The researchers found that in healthy mice, these guardian peptides were abundant and effectively managed the immune responses. However, in mice with multiple sclerosis, these protective proteins were significantly diminished. When the researchers introduced the missing brain-derived peptides into the spinal fluid of mice with MS, something remarkable happened…

It led to an increase in a type of T cell that suppresses immune reactions, resulting in improved motor function and a slowdown in the progression of the disease compared to untreated mice.

This research highlights an important discovery…

“We have found guardian brain peptides that actively engage with the immune system to keep it in check, possibly preventing destructive immune responses,” said Dr. Kipnis.

More research may lead to identifying protein signatures of other neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases that could lead to early diagnosis and potential treatment.

Support can start with a common denominator

These findings may also provide reason to acknowledge the communication between the brain and another body part linked with autoimmune and neuroinflammatory diseases…

You may have heard of the gut-brain axis, also referred to as the gut-brain-immune axis in the scientific community. The immune system represents a key pathway of communication along this axis with the microbiome implicated in neuroinflammation.

A healthy gut microbiome helps orchestrate this connection and is involved in the production of neurotransmitters and other chemicals, including neuropeptides, that influence the immune system.

An imbalance in the gut microbiome can disrupt communication along the gut-brain axis, leading to the increased neuroinflammation that contributes to MS, Parkinson’s and even Alzheimer’s.

An example came to light in a study that found lactobacillus reuteri triggered lupus in mice and stimulated immune cells to worsen the disease process.

The benefits of probiotics are transmitted via the gut-brain axis. A healthy and balanced gut could support the gut-brain axis and immune response.

Sources:

Healthy brains suppress inappropriate immune responses — EurekAlert!

Endogenous self-peptides guard immune privilege of the central nervous system — Nature

The enteric nervous system is a potential autoimmune target in multiple sclerosis — Acta Neuropathologica

The Role of Gut Microbiota in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Current Insights and Therapeutic Implications — Cureus

Microbiota and gut neuropeptides: a dual action of antimicrobial activity and neuroimmune response — Psychopharmacology

The gut microbiota-immune-brain axis: Therapeutic implications — Cell Reports Medicine