People with inflammatory bowel disease may notice flare-ups during stressful times. Researchers have now found the mechanism behind that.
For years, studies have shown an association between mental distress and inflammation. The connection is especially apparent in IBD or other autoimmune conditions characterised by gut inflammation, abdominal pain and intestinal damage. Even with treatment,To understand the mechanism behind this association,at the University of Pennsylvania and his colleagues analysed mice with IBD-like symptoms.
The researchers then performed a genetic analysis of tissue samples collected from the animals’ colons. They found that mice with persistently elevated glucocorticoids had changes in specialised neural cells called enteric glia. Glial cells help maintain neurons and communicate with many different types of cells, and they respond to stress hormones by pumping out
. The enteric glia of mice with elevated glucocorticoids showed increased activity in pro-inflammatory genes.Get the most essential health and fitness news in your inbox every Saturday.Genetic analysis also revealed that stress alters neurons in the gut, making them appear less mature. “The reason why this is detrimental is because we need mature neurons in the gastrointestinal tract to drive bowel movement and motility,” says Thaiss.
The team validated these findings in 63 people with IBD by collecting and genetically analysing tissue samples from everyone’s colons. Participants also completed a questionnaire assessing stress. People who experienced more stress had more intestinal damage and greater increases in inflammatory markers, similar to those seen in mice.
“The big question is whether the same pathway might dictate people’s degree of responsiveness to different treatments,” says Thaiss. If so, it could improve
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