May 3, 2024

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Paradigm shift in neurobiology: New study reveals brain’s anti-inflammatory circuit

Paradigm shift in neurobiology: New study reveals brain’s anti-inflammatory circuit



 

Paradigm shift in neurobiology: New study reveals brain’s anti-inflammatory circuit.

How does the brain change how we respond to infection or injury?

A multidisciplinary team of scientists from the Institut Pasteur, the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the German Academy of Medical Research (Inserm) has revealed the existence of a neural circuit coordinated by different brain areas in the perception and regulation of important role in the anti-inflammatory response.

This circuit detects inflammation in the blood and organizes and regulates the immune response. It embodies the two-way connection between the brain and the immune system.

 

Whenever an infection or injury occurs, the immune system is triggered to contain the infection and repair damaged tissue. During this process, the brain releases pro-inflammatory mediators that inform the brain of the body’s immune status and coordinate the immune response.

 

In response to this signal, the brain triggers a complex response called “sick behavior,” which aims to redistribute energy to different systems in the body.

This state is associated with behavioral changes, including social withdrawal and lethargy, metabolic adjustments such as fever and loss of appetite, and the release of hormones such as cortisone that increase resistance to infection while modulating the immune response.

 

Paradigm shift in neurobiology: New study reveals brain's anti-inflammatory circuit

 

In the study, a multidisciplinary team of neurobiologists and immunologists from the Institut Pasteur, Inserm and the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) discovered a new mechanism that the brain uses to measure inflammation levels in the blood. circuits, and thereby regulate inflammation.

 

A region of the brainstem known as the vagal complex directly detects the levels and types of inflammatory hormones in the blood. This information is then relayed to neurons in another area of ​​the brainstem called the “paraaxillary nucleus,” which also receives information related to pain and certain aversive or traumatic memories.

These neurons, in turn, activate neurons in the hypothalamus, causing a rapid increase in the bloodstream of cortisone, which has anti-inflammatory properties.

 

Using state-of-the-art neuroscience methods, the scientists identified this circuit, enabling the individual observation of the neurons involved during inflammation.

They observed how the activity of specific neurons in the paratibial nucleus controls the production of white blood cells involved in the immune response.

 

“This study shows that during infection or injury, neural activity in the brain alone can have a powerful influence on the development of the immune response. It thus provides a clear example of a strong two-way connection between the body and the brain. “This also fuels our ambition to discover how the brain plays an important role in our interaction with microbes, defense against pathogens and healing,” explains Gérard Eberl, Head of the Microenvironment and Immunity Group at the Institut Pasteur. The effect of the manner of the wound.”

 

The discovery of this circuit opens up new opportunities for research that will advance the fields of neurobiology and immunology together: “This study provides us with additional tools to better understand how systemic inflammation affects The brain, emotions and certain neurodegenerative processes,” adds Gabriel Lepousez, a neurobiologist at the Perception and Memory Research Group (Institut Pasteur/CNRS).

 

Given the established role of the paratibial nucleus in aversive memory, if this circuit were reactivated by memories of past inflammatory or aversive experiences, the potential threat of infection might be averted.

Thus, using this neuro-immune communication, the immune system can benefit from the brain’s ability to predict and anticipate environmental threats.

 

 

 

Paradigm shift in neurobiology: New study reveals brain’s anti-inflammatory circuit

(source:internet, reference only)


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