A pop population transports information on the intestine and on the adipose fabrics up to neurons in the brain that regulate the appetite.
A group of immune cells who reside in the brain control food intake patrolling the intestine and fat deposits And they could play an important role in regulating the behaviors related to appetite.
A group of scientists from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel and Yale University of New Haven, Connecticut (USA), discovered a population of Specialized T lymphocytes in a central nucleus of the brain of mice and human beings. The number of these cells seems to be linked to the intake of food in the intestine and fat mass of the body in which they are located. The research was published on Nature.
A control unit for physiological stimuli. Most adaptive immune cells (T and B lymphocytes, which provide a specialized defense to combat infections) are concentrated in the meninges, the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord. Previous studies suggested that T lymphocytes could also be found within of the brain itself: the authors of the study have identified a population in a point of thesubfrel organa small aggregate of neurons in the center of the brain that collaborates in the perception of a series of needs, including hunger and thirst.
Continuous exchanges. The same population of T lymphocytes, distinct from that present in the meninges for some protein characteristics, was found in the human brain. Scientists have therefore observed a link between these lymphocytes and the pop population of T lymphocytes residing in the fatty deposits of mice. When the mice were powered with a diet rich in fat, T lymphocytes increased Both in the subfrel organ and in the adipose tissues. After 48 hours in fasting, however, the number of T lymphocytes in the brain was increased and that in the decreased fat deposits, as if the food intake had influenced on the number of immune cells traveling to the brain.
A sign of the need for food? The intestinal microbioma could also influence the population of these immune cells. In fact, when the researchers administered antibiotics to mice, the level of T lymphocytes in the brain structure has decreased. While hungry mice, but which had been genetically modified to be without this population of immune cells, they took more time to search for food compared to mice that still had them.
An interesting bond. All these tests suggest that these cells can play a role of reporting of the contribution of food consumed and participating in behaviors of search for food and hunger reporting.
Certainly those observed are simple correlations that should be deepened, to understand if the “sentinel” cells can play a crucial role in regulating diet.
