Cell metal: dietary intervention strategy may be expected to slow down the occurrence and progress of inflammation and autoimmune diseases

February 7, 2020 / biool / -- recently, in a research report published in the international journal Cell metablism, scientists from the U.S Institute of venander and other institutions found that it can significantly reduce the level of methionine in the diet or effectively slow down the inflammation and autoimmunity of high-risk individuals The occurrence and development of sexual disorders, such as multiple sclerosis Image source: Wiktionary Methionine is produced by many cells in the body, while methionine is not produced by immune cells that are responsible for responding to threats such as pathogens On the contrary, methionine that stimulates specific cell types (such as T cells) must be obtained through food intake Although methionine exists in many foods, animal products such as meat and eggs contain high water Methionine, flat Russell Jones, a researcher, said methionine is essential for a healthy immune system The results of this study show that methionine is essential for inflammation and autoimmunity For individuals with sexual disorders (such as multiple sclerosis), reducing the intake of methionine can actually slow down the activity of immune cells that induce diseases and bring better prognosis to patients; relevant research results may provide new ideas and hopes for later scientists to develop new dietary interventions to treat these diseases Autoimmunity is induced when the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy tissues Sexual disorders, for example, in patients with multiple sclerosis, the myelin sheath that protects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord will be targeted by the immune system, and subsequent damage will prevent information transmission to the brain, which will induce progressive deterioration symptoms, such as numbness, muscle weakness, coordination and balance problems, cognitive decline, etc currently, there is no effective treatment It can slow down or block the occurrence of multiple sclerosis without significantly increasing the risk of infection or cancer Catherine, MD Larochelle said that at present, researchers are not clear about the specific molecular mechanism of inducing multiple sclerosis Genes related to the immune system are related to the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis, but environmental factors also play a key role In fact, metabolic factors such as obesity can also increase the risk of multiple sclerosis in individuals, which makes researchers begin to consider the strategy of using diet intervention To slow down the activity of the immune system, so as to effectively inhibit the progress of multiple sclerosis During the immune response, T cells will fill the affected areas to help the body resist pathogens The researchers found that dietary methionine can accelerate this process by helping to reprogram T cells to respond to the danger Some reprogrammed T cells will cause inflammation, which is a normal part of the immune response, but will cause certain damage If its effect has always been If it continues, there will be neurological damage like multiple sclerosis In addition, the researchers also found that by significantly reducing the level of methionine in the diet of the mouse model or changing the reprogramming of T cells, which limits the ability to induce inflammation in the brain and spinal cord, it will slow down the onset and progress of the disease Jones said that by limiting the methionine in the diet, we can fundamentally remove the "fuel" of the excessive inflammatory response, while also It will not affect the function of other immune systems of the body Before the dietary guidance is proposed, researchers must conduct a large number of studies in the human body to verify that the next step is to study whether new drugs can be developed to target the metabolism of methionine This study is the latest in which methionine restriction is considered as a possible treatment for diseases The results show that methionine restriction may improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in the treatment of cancer Original source: Dominic g Roy, Jocelyn Chen, Victoria mamane, et al Methionine metabolism shapes T helper cell responses through regulation of epigenetic reprogramming, cell metablism (2020) doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2020.01.006