Researchers find that pain-sensing gut neurons protect against inflammation.
It’s well-known that pain is a way for the body to protect itself from further damage. But it turns out that pain-sensing neurons in the gut may also play a role in protecting against inflammation.
A new study, published in the journal Nature, reveals that a specific type of gut neuron is activated in response to pain and helps to regulate the body’s inflammatory response.
The findings could have implications for the treatment of inflammatory disorders such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and others.
The study was conducted in mice, but the researchers say the findings are likely to be relevant to humans as well.
The gut is home to a large number of neurons, which are responsible for relaying information about the gut’s environment to the brain.
Previous studies have shown that some of these neurons are sensitive to pain. But the new study is the first to show that a specific type of pain-sensing neuron is also involved in regulating inflammation.
When the researchers looked at the guts of mice, they found that a type of neuron known as a enteric glial cell (EGC) was activated in response to pain.
EGCs are known to play a role in the immune system, and the researchers found that they were able to control the inflammatory response by producing a protein called interleukin-10 (IL-10).
IL-10 is a key regulator of inflammation, and the researchers found that when it was absent, the mice were more likely to develop inflammation.
The findings suggest that pain-sensing EGCs may play a role in protecting against inflammation, and that targeting these cells could be a new strategy for treating inflammatory disorders.
Pain-sensing gut neurons are essential for the prevention of chronic inflammation, a new study has found.
Chronic inflammation is a major contributor to many diseases, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Prevention of chronic inflammation is therefore a major focus of medical research.
The new study, conducted in mice, found that pain-sensing gut neurons are essential for the prevention of chronic inflammation. These neurons detect bacterial byproducts and trigger a inflammatory response.
Without these neurons, the body is unable to mount an effective inflammatory response and chronic inflammation ensues.
The findings suggest that targeting these neurons could be a promising strategy for the prevention of chronic inflammation.
The study was conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and the University of Pittsburgh. It is published in the journal Nature.
