Scientists may be closer to understanding how the brain can function differently in people with bipolar disorder. In a new study, researchers say they found evidence that certain brain cells trigger inflammation more easily in those with BPD and that these capricious cells may be linked to decreased neural activity that could be harmful to our mental health. The findings, published on Thursday, in Stem Cell Reports, it could suggest a new way to treat bipolar disorder in a day, although more research is still needed.
Scientists have been studying the link between inflammation and mental illness for some time, inclusive bipolar disorder. People with bipolar disorder experience uncontrollable mood swings that can leave them depressed at times and next maniac. People with bipolar disorder are known to be more likely to have other conditions associated with chronic inflammation, such as hypertension and diabetes. Some studies have also shown that patients with bipolar disorder may have higher levels of proteins that stimulate the body to become inflamed, especially when they are in the middle of a manic episode. These proteins include interleukin 6 (IL-6), which plays many roles in the body, such as guiding the body’s acute response to infection.
In their new study, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the University of California, San Diego and the Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience in Paris decided to look at a certain type of brain cell, the astrocyte. These are star-shaped cells in the brain that perform a number of important functions that help support neurons. One of these functions includes being part of the chain of command that triggers inflammation of the brain and surrounding nervous system, which is meant to help the brain respond to injury or infection. The researchers theorized that this in general A useful process can lead to error in people with bipolar disorder and that astrocytes may play a role in this dysfunctional inflammation.
“Due to a growing understanding of the role of neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders, we asked whether the altered signaling of inflammation in astrocytes was associated with bipolar disorder,” study author Fred Gage, president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, said in an e-mail. mail. .
Gage and his team used the stem derived cells from six people with bipolar disorder, as well as four controls without bipolar disorder, then made them become astrocytes that were studied in the laboratory. (They figured out how to create these cells from previous research.) Compared to the control group, astrocytes from patients with bipolar disorder were significantly different. Cells have higher IL-6 gene expression and, as a result, secrete more IL-6 than the control astrocytes. When they exposed the neurons to these astrocytes, the team observed a decrease in the level of neuronal activity compared to astrocytes from controls. And when the researchers introduced an antibody that suppressed IL-6 into the mixture, the neurons were less obstructed by astrocytes, further involving IL-6. Finally, the blood of patients with bipolar disorder also contained more IL-6 than controls.
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“Our study suggests that the normal function of astrocytes is affected in the brains of patients with bipolar disorder, contributing to neuroinflammation,” said co-author Renata Santos, a researcher at the Salk Institute and the Paris Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience.
The findings are certainly interesting, but researchers warn that there is still a long way to go before confirming a clear and causal link between affected astrocytes, IL-6 and bipolar disorder, let alone something that could lead to new treatments. significant. Astrocytes grown in the laboratory could be different from those found in our brain in important ways, for example. (One difference is that these cells are less mature.) And since the brain is very complicated, there are probably other aspects of our biology, including the brain, that could play an important role. role in causing bipolar disorder.
Our findings elucidate aspects of the underestimated role of astrocytes in neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders, with relevance for IL-6 modification and inflammatory signaling in astrocytes in patients with bipolar disorder, said lead author Krishna Vadodaria, a research associate at the Salk Institute.
If researchers are related to something here, astrocytes may help us not only provide an additional perspective on bipolar disorder, but also other inflammatory-related mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, according to study author Carol Marchetto, now a researcher. in anthropology at UC San Diego. And he hopes their work will help propel future research on astrocytes and inflammation – research that could lead to the development of treatments that could reverse the harmful bodily changes seen in those with bipolar disorder and similar conditions.