Scientists are perhaps closer to understanding how the brain can function differently in people with bipolar disorder. In a new study, researchers say they have found evidence that certain brain cells cause inflammation more easily in those with BPD, and that these idiosyncratic cells may be linked to reduced neural activity that may be detrimental to our mental health. The findings, published Thursday in Stem Cell Reports, it may one day be an indication of a new way to treat bipolar disorder, although more research is needed.
Scientists have been studying the link between inflammation and mental illness for some time, including bipolar disorder. People with bipolar disorder experience uncontrollable mood swings that can make them very depressed for a moment. manic the following. It is known that people with bipolar disorder have more diseases associated with chronic inflammation, such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Some studies have also shown that patients with bipolar disorder may have higher protein levels that cause the body to become inflamed, especially if they are in the middle of a manic episode. These proteins contain interleukin 6 (IL-6), which plays many roles in the body, such as directing the body’s acute response to infection.
In their new study, researchers from the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the University of California, San Diego, and the Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris decided to look at a specific type of brain, the astrocyte. These are star-shaped cells in the brain that perform a number of important functions that help support neurons. One of these features includes being part of the command chain that causes inflammation in the brain and the surrounding nervous system, which is meant to help the brain respond to injuries or infections. The researchers theorize that in general a useful process can go wrong in people with bipolar disorder, and that astrocytes may be involved in this dysfunctional inflammation.
“Due to an increasing understanding of the role of neuritis in psychiatric disorders, we asked whether altered inflammation-driven signal in astrocytes is associated with bipolar disorder,” said author Fred Gage, president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. , said in an email.
Gage and his team used tribe cells derived of six people with bipolar disorder as well as four controls without bipolar disorder, they then developed into astrocytes studied in the laboratory. (They found out how to create these cells earlier research.) Compared to the control group, the astrocytes of patients with bipolar disorder were markedly different. The cells had a higher expression of their IL-6 gene and consequently they secreted more IL-6 than the control astrosiete. When they exposed neurons to these astrocytes, the team saw a reduced level of neural activity compared to the astrocytes from the controls. And when the researchers introduced an antibody that suppresses IL-6 in the mixture, the neurons are less hindered by the astrocytes, which further implies IL-6. Finally, the blood of patients with bipolar disorder also contains more IL-6 than controls.
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“Our study suggests that normal functions of astrocytes are affected in the brain by bipolar disorder, which contributes to neuro-inflammation,” said co-author Renata Santos, a researcher at the Salk Institute as well as the Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Paris, said.
The findings are certainly interesting, but the researchers warn that there is still a long way to go before we can confirm a clear causal link between affected astrocytes, IL-6 and bipolar disorder, much less something that could lead to meaningful new treatments. . Laboratory-grown asrocytes, for example, can differ from those in our brains in important ways. (One difference is that these cells are less mature.) And since the brain is very complex, there are probably other aspects of our biology, including in the brain, that may play an important role. role in the cause of bipolar disorder.
“Our findings illustrate aspects of the investigated role of astrocytes in neuro-inflammation in psychiatric disorders, relevant to altered IL-6 and inflammatory signal in astrocytes in patients with bipolar disorder,” said lead author Krishna Vadodaria, a research fellow at the Salk Institute, said.
If researchers tackle something here, it is possible that astrocytes may not only provide further insight into bipolar disorder, but also other mental illnesses associated with inflammation, such as schizophrenia, according to author Carol Marchetto, now a researcher in anthropology at UC San Diego. And they hope their work will help drive future research on astrocytes and inflammation – research that could lead to the development of treatments that can reverse the harmful body changes that occur in people with bipolar disorder and similar conditions.