Scientists may be 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 trigger inflammation more easily in those with BPD and that these capable cells can be linked to a decrease in neuronal activity that can be harmful. for our mental health. The findings, published Thursday in Stem Cell Reports, could hint at a new way to treat bipolar disorder someday, though more research is still needed.
Scientists have long been studying the connection between inflammation and mental illness, including bipolar disorder. People with bipolar disorder experience uncontrollable mood swings that can leave them severely depressed for a while. maniac the next. 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 cause inflammation in the body, especially when they are in the midst of a manic episode. These proteins include interleukin 6 (IL-6), which has 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 Paris Institute of Psychiatry and Neuroscience decided to examine a specific type of brain cell. , the astrocyte. These are star-shaped cells in the brain that perform several important functions that help support neurons. One of these functions includes being part of the chain of command that triggers inflammation in the brain and surrounding nervous system, which aims to help the brain respond to injury or infection. The researchers theorized that in general a useful process can be disrupted in people with bipolar disorder and that astrocytes may play a part in this dysfunctional inflammation.
“Due to a growing understanding of the role of neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders, we asked whether altered signaling of inflammation in astrocytes was associated with bipolar disorder,” the study’s author said in an email. Fred Gage, president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. .
Gage and his team used the stem derived cells of six people with bipolar disorder, as well as four controls without bipolar disorder, made them become astrocytes that were studied in the laboratory. (They had figured out how to create these cells from previous research.) Compared with the control group, the astrocytes of patients with bipolar disorder were markedly different. Cells had higher expression of their IL-6 gene and, as a result, secreted more IL-6 than control. astrocytes. When they exposed neurons to these astrocytes, the team saw decreased levels of neuronal activity, compared to the control astrocytes. And when the researchers introduced an antibody that suppressed IL-6 into the mixture, the neurons were less obstructed by astrocytes, which further implicated 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, which contributes to neuroinflammation,” said co-author Renata Santos, a researcher at the Salk Institute and the Institute of Psychiatry and Neurosciences of Paris.
The findings are certainly intriguing, but researchers warn that there is still a long way to go before confirming a clear and causal link between damaged astrocytes, IL-6 and bipolar disorder, let alone something that could lead to significant new treatments. Laboratory-grown astrocytes may be different from those found in our brain in important ways, for example. (One difference is that these cells are less mature.) And because the brain is very complicated, there are likely to be other aspects of our biology, including the brain, that may play an important role. role in the cause of bipolar disorder.
“Our findings clarify aspects of the underestimated role of astrocytes in neuroinflammation in psychiatric disorders, with relevance for altered IL-6 and inflammatory signaling in astrocytes in patients with bipolar disorder,” said lead author Krishna Vadodaria, researcher associated with the Salk Institute.
If researchers are engaged in something here, it is possible that astrocytes may not only help provide additional insight into bipolar disorder, but other inflammatory-related mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, according to the author of the paper. Carol Marchetto, now an anthropology researcher 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 observed in people with bipolar disorder and similar conditions.