The Mysterious Signal: Uncovering the Cause of MS
Though it’s a debilitating disease that affects approximately 2.3 million people around the world, medical professionals are still unsure exactly what causes it. It is understood that those suffering from it experience a systematic deterioration of the protective shell surrounding their nerve fibers. When this shell (known as myelin) is lost or permanently damaged, vital nerve fibers are left vulnerable and impaired. The loss of myelin and the resulting impaired nerves are features of the devastating disease recognized in the medical community as multiple sclerosis (MS).
What makes MS especially difficult to diagnose is the fact that nerve damage can manifest itself through a variety of symptoms, the presence of which vary from person to person. This high variability in symptoms adds an additional layer of complexity to MS. Though symptoms are far ranging, generally the damaged nerve fibers interfere with the brain’s ability to send appropriate signals to the spinal cord and the rest of the body. With so much unknown about this progressive and degenerative disease, scientists have been working hard to uncover more information on the causes of MS. This is primarily in hopes that developing a deeper understanding of the roots of the condition could ideally unearth potential treatment options, or perhaps even a cure.
Potentially coming one step closer to this goal, researchers from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville have recently discovered a mysterious signal being sent from the brain to the lymph nodes that they suggest might serve as an explanation for MS. Their findings, published last month in Nature Neuroscience, were based on the same team’s earlier groundbreaking discovery that the brain has what are called “lymphatic vessels”. These vessels are essentially pipes in the brain that are used to process waste found in blood vessels. This connection between the brain and the immune system, established by researcher Jonathan Kipnis and his team, shed light onto what system might be responsible for MS. This was the basis for Kipnis’ new research, which investigated the effects of this interaction on MS progression.
[…] researchers from the University of Virginia in Charlottesville have recently discovered a mysterious signal being sent from the brain to the lymph nodes that they suggest might serve as an explanation for MS.
According to their published piece in Nature Neuroscience, Kipnis and his team explained that neuroinflammatory diseases like MS involve the brain being overrun by T-cells. These cells are part of the immune system’s defense, as they attack other cells that are deemed to be invaders. In MS, T-cells are responsible for the destruction of the protective myelin sheath. Armed with this understanding as well as the knowledge of lymphatic vessels in the brain, the research team used a mouse model to study how interfering with the lymphatic vessels might alter the brain’s signal to the immune system. Upon blocking and surgically damaging the lymphatic vessels, it was found that this resulted in lower levels of T-cells in the brain, which reduced the effects of MS in the mouse model. This clearly demonstrates that there is a key interaction between the brain and the immune system, which is facilitated by the lymphatic vessels. Understanding this interaction and the role that lymphatic vessels play in inflammation would be critical for MS treatment, as more research can be done on therapies that target these vessels in the brain.
These findings are not only a breakthrough for MS, but other neuroinflammatory diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s as well. These neurodegenerative disorders could be related to this uncontrolled brain-to-lymph node interaction, and the idea that the results from this one study could be applied to therapies for a whole class of disorders is monumental. While Kipnis and his team have had a major breakthrough, there are still a number of unknowns. Though evidence suggests there is vital communication between the brain and the immune system leading to these pathologies, the nature of this signal being sent from the brain is still an enigma. This would be the next question to answer, as that information could help with the development of further targeted therapies that wouldn’t require disruption of the lymphatic system.
Additionally, it is important to note that researchers were not able to stop the initial development of MS. This suggests that there are most definitely other factors at play contributing to onset of the disease. Despite this, the research conducted by Kipnis and his team is still a big step forward, and the discovery of this mysterious signal will hopefully act as a catalyst for further research.
DOI: 10.1038/s41593–018–0227–9
