[New study] High-salt diet affects immunity | Mitochondria of phagocytes are suppressed

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Author: chen Introduction: Salt is indispensable in people's lives.
When it comes to high-salt diets, people often think of high blood pressure first.

A recent study shows that a high-salt diet inhibits the mitochondria of phagocytes.

The old saying goes: "Seven things to open the door, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce and vinegar tea.
"
No matter ancient or modern, salt is indispensable in people's lives.
Too much or too little salt will have certain side effects on our body.

Table salt is the main dietary source of sodium.

The World Health Organization previously recommended that the daily intake of salt per person should be controlled within 5g, so many families will stare at the 5g salt in the salt jar.

But don't forget that many seasonings also contain salt, such as soy sauce and snacks.

Long-term intake of too much salt will not only increase blood pressure, but also severely damage the energy balance of immune cells.

As early as 2015, a German research team discovered that the increase in sodium concentration in the blood affects the precursors of macrophages, including the functions of activating and patrolling monocytes.

But the researchers don't yet know what is going on in the cell.

Recently, a researcher published a paper in "Circulation" entitled "Salt Transiently Inhibits Mitochondrial Energetics in Mononuclear Phagocytes".

They analyzed the effects of high-salt diet for more than two weeks and short-term high-salt single meal on human monocyte mitochondrial function.

Salt destroys the respiratory chain of cells.
Researchers have observed the metabolism of immune cells exposed to high concentrations of salt. After only three hours, there was a change: the high concentration of salt disrupted the respiratory chain, causing the cells to produce less ATP and consume less oxygen.

ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is a universal fuel that powers all cells.
It provides energy for the "chemical work" required for muscle strength and metabolic regulation-the synthesis of proteins and other molecules.

ATP is produced in the mitochondria, which is the "power station" of the cell, through a series of complex biochemical reactions, namely the respiratory chain.

Salt can very clearly inhibit complexes in the respiratory chain.

This has the following result: lack of energy causes monocytes to mature in different ways.

The task of phagocytes is to identify and eliminate pathogens in the body, so that they can fight infections more effectively.

But it also promotes inflammation, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The effect of salt is reversible.
In clinical studies, healthy male participants supplemented 6g of salt tablets in their daily diet for 14 consecutive days.

In addition, the researchers also studied a familiar situation: eating pizza provided by an Italian restaurant, that is, a single meal with short-term high salt.

Then, they analyzed the monocytes in the participants' blood.

The results of the study show that the inhibitory effect on mitochondria does not only occur after a long-term increase in salt intake, but also after eating a pizza.

Blood was drawn from the participants after 3 and 8 hours and found that this effect was almost impossible to measure in the second sample.

  Therefore, the activity of mitochondria will not be permanently inhibited.

 In other words, if a person eats very salty food several times a day, the ongoing risk of sodium to mitochondrial function cannot be ruled out, but it needs to be tested in the future.

 Small ions, big effects "The basic finding of our research is that small molecules like sodium ions can very effectively inhibit an enzyme that plays a key role in the respiratory chain.

" The researchers said, "When these ions flood into the mitochondria --They do this under various physiological conditions - they regulate the central part of the electron transport chain.

"Therefore, it seems to be a very basic regulatory mechanism in cells.

In short, the data of this study confirms that mitochondrial respiratory disorders are the first step in the mechanical effects of high dietary salt on immune cell function.

These functional changes may help resolve bacterial infections.
, Will also promote the occurrence of inflammation.

Reference: Note: This article aims to introduce the progress of medical research and cannot be used as a reference for treatment plans.

If you need health guidance, Please go to a regular hospital for treatment.