Shulou(Shulou.com)06/02 Report--

A sudden epidemic of novel coronavirus gave us a solid lesson in the popularization of science on global epidemic prevention.

Caring about the progress of the epidemic, understanding the prevention and control of infection, and worrying about the progress of the vaccine make almost everyone become half an epidemic prevention expert.

Not long ago, the "mass immunization" measure issued by the British government caused a global uproar. This incident is also a reminder to everyone: how does our immune system work?

In common sense, we generally know that the body's immune system can resist and eliminate foreign pathogens; we can usually strengthen our immunity through exercise, adequate sleep and a healthy diet. But little attention has been paid to the connection between the immune system and nervous systems such as our brains.

Just because you pay less attention doesn't mean it's not important.

Today, modern human beings, who are under high work pressure and fast pace of life, are facing many neurological and mental health diseases caused by the immune system. This kind of anxiety, depression and other diseases caused by abnormal immunity are more persistent and hidden than the influenza cold of "seven days a course" and this infection of novel coronavirus, and we need to pay enough attention to it.

No immune privilege: the brain is inextricably linked to the immune system

The medical community has long believed that the brain is a unique being excluded from the immune system. Because the jelly-like substance of the brain is so fragile that it cannot withstand the frenzied attack of immune cells, the brain is not affected by the body's immune response.

The discovery of the "blood-brain barrier" in medicine, that is, the closely arranged group of cells in the cerebral vessels can only allow nutrients to pass through, can effectively prevent the invasion of the vast majority of bacteria and viruses. this has led the medical community to believe that the brain and the central nervous system have "immune privileges".

In 2015, this perception was subverted by new experimental findings that there was a direct link between the brain and the immune system. Through experimental observations, researchers at the University of Virginia confirmed that there are hidden lymphatic vessels in the meninges of mice, which can be directly connected to the peripheral immune tissue. Over the next two years, researchers naturally found this set of lymphoid tissue in the human body.

(imaging of lymphatic vessels of the human brain)

This discovery is tantamount to overturning the conclusions of decades of medical textbooks and filling the last and most important part of the human lymphatic system-the brain.

What is the significance of this discovery? This means that researchers can study the physiological mechanism of how the immune system affects neurological and mental disorders.

For such a powerful role as novel coronavirus, humans can basically study their genetic sequence and the evolution of their ancestors in a matter of weeks. however, neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, autism and multiple sclerosis, which afflict tens of millions of human beings, are stubborn problems that human beings have to face for a long time.

In the case of Alzheimer's disease, researchers first found that it was associated with sleep disorders that are common in patients, and then found that it was associated with the accumulation and inability to clear amyloid protein in the brain. Now, researchers can know that the inability to clear the brain waste is related to the failure of the brain's lymphatic vessels. In the future, it may be possible to improve the dilation of lymphatic vessels in some way to help the brain get rid of these disease-causing proteins.

The new findings allow researchers to find the real possible causes and treatments for stubborn diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Although the study is still in process, the discovery of causality is exciting for the general public.

Emotional contagion: our weird problems may come from bacterial infections

In daily life, we are overconfident in our brain's judgment and control. We see ourselves as the "spirit of all things", and we have an "independent will", and the brain can shape our personality, control our emotions and performance. But the reality is often very hard on the face. Studies have found that our immune system and some of the pathogen infections that stimulate the immune system may shape our personality, including the level of anxiety or impulse, affecting our mood, memory and even our ability to learn. Some mental disorders, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorder and depression, may be caused by the immune system response caused by disease infection.

For example, some children who are diagnosed with Tourette syndrome or Sidenham's chorea may be associated with some streptococcal infection. Antibodies produced by the immune system in response to such infections bind to receptors in the brain that control behavior, causing these behavioral disorders similar to obsessive-compulsive disorder. In terms of this discovery, we sometimes need antibiotics more than psychotherapists to cure obsessive-compulsive disorder.

An interesting finding is that just as immune stimulation caused by bacteria may cause people to suffer from depression and anxiety, some bacteria can also be used to boost people's emotional state. for example, Mycobacterium bovis can stimulate the immune system response. the neurons in the prefrontal cortex emit large amounts of serotonin to boost our mood.

More and more studies have shown that the immune response caused by bacteria and bacteria can affect the brain and brain signal pathways, thus stimulating the production of chemicals such as cortisol, and ultimately affect all kinds of emotional responses of human beings.

The conclusion of this study inspires us that we just don't have to worry about exposure to all kinds of bacteria in our lives, which is, of course, impossible. We should encourage full exposure to all kinds of biological flora in the natural environment from an early age. For example, it has long been found that fewer infections in childhood are more likely to develop allergic diseases later in life. The same principle can be used to explain the occurrence of this kind of mental illness.

This is also a very important kind of reminder. As the so-called parents love their children, they plan their lives for them. Under the condition of ensuring that there is no excessive risk of causing disease, we can still have more contact with our children under the natural environment. Making our immune system fully aware of these natural bacteria may have many unexpected benefits.

Magic attack: the immune system response that makes us anxious and depressed

As we all know, long-term high-stress, fast-paced work and life will bring serious harm to our health, such as anxiety, depression and other mental disorders. This causal chain is more complex than we thought. Such attacks are like magical attacks, and external mental stress can cause a series of "abnormal" reactions in our immune system.

Under the action of pressure, some immune cells that originally exist in the immune system to fight infection, their mitochondria will decompose, the normal metabolism of immune cells will deviate and produce a large number of purines. Such substances can easily cross the blood-brain barrier and enter the brain from the surrounding immune system. When these purines reach the amygdala brain region that deals with emotions such as anxiety and fear, they can bind to certain types of glial cells in the brain, activate these neurons and cause anxiety.

In addition, immune cells secrete a substance of cytokines when the body is obese or when the body is inflamed by infection. Although cytokines cannot cross the blood-brain barrier, they are likely to send signals to the brain through lymphatic vessels or specialized channels, and can also stimulate relevant brain regions to produce a depressive response. However, another side effect of this substance is that it can increase empathy in the brain.

These discoveries in the immune system and our brain's nervous system have given researchers more new inspiration to alleviate or treat these mental disorders by developing drugs that block or clear the production of these pathogenic factors.

For ordinary people, if they have been hit, it is clear that turning to drugs is the most effective way. In our daily life, how to get along with stress and how to solve the problems of obesity and chronic inflammation are the most important problems that we should pay attention to.

Mending after losing a sheep is a very simple wisdom in our life experience. But often, if it is not important, we seldom have any sense of these "everyday but unknown" systems.

The immune system is such an important but low-key body system. When the body has a variety of obvious symptoms, we can also take the initiative to seek all kinds of treatment because of the immediate pain. On the other hand, all kinds of mental problems often do not get our attention, and even we think that we can overcome them only through our own psychological adjustment and suggestion.

Obviously, pathogen infection, immune system and our brain and the entire nervous system, are inextricably linked. Establishing the understanding of these latest scientific research results can at least make us realize that once we have some mental problems, we should take the initiative to seek help from relevant medical science and drugs.

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