Picking your nose is cool for a while, digging the crematorium all the time! Latest Research: "Picking Your Nose" Increases Your Risk of Alzheimer's Disease!

There is such a thing: when you watch others do it, you may feel "disgusting"; But I often can't help but want to do it, especially when I am alone - yes, it is "picking my nose"! (If you have the habit of picking your nose, please like it, let the editor see how many honest people there are)

In fact, picking your nose can be regarded as a small habit
of the unity of earthlings.
Regardless of age, gender and nationality, as long as you pick your nose, we can become good friends
.
As early as 1995, a pair of American researchers with (wu) fun (liao) conducted a systematic study of "nose picking", and up to 91% of the 254 participants surveyed admitted that they had the habit of picking their noses (the editor deeply doubted that the remaining 9% were unwilling to admit it) What's more, you have to pick ≧ nose 1 time per hour on average!

In addition to cleaning the dirt in the nasal cavity, the greater significance of picking the nose is - cool (understand everything)! However, although picking your nose is really on the head, it is this habit that everyone has, and if the "posture is not right", it may really cause disaster
.

A new study in Scientific Reports gives "nose picking enthusiasts" a head start! Researchers from New York University's Grossman School of Medicine found that frequent nose picking may cause Chlamydia pneumoniae to mediate the nerves between the nasal cavity and the brain as an invasion pathway, invade the central nervous system, and induce the deposition of amyloid β brain cells, thereby increasing the risk of Alzheimer's disease and dementia! (The hand that wants to pick his nose suddenly hangs in mid-air.
.
.
) ）

https://doi.
org/10.
1038/s41598-022-06749-9

Chlamydia pneumoniae, what bacteria also? Chlamydia pneumoniae is a gram-negative respiratory pathogen that primarily infects the lungs and nasal mucosa, with 5-20% of community-acquired pneumonia attributable to Chlamydia pneumoniae
.
However, in recent years, more and more studies have found that the disease caused by Chlamydia pneumoniae infection is not limited to the respiratory tract, but can even induce coronary heart disease, asthma, inflammatory arthritis, multiple sclerosis, especially late-onset Alzheimer's disease
.

Previously, studies compared the postmortem brains of late-onset dementia patients and normal people, and surprisingly found that 90% of late-onset Alzheimer's patients could detect Chlamydia pneumoniae DNA in the brain, compared with only 5%
in the normal control group.
So, what is the relationship between Chlamydia pneumoniae and Alzheimer's disease? And how to invade the central system?

To answer this question, the researchers sacrificed some of the mice after inoculating adult mice with Chlamydia pneumoniae in the nasal cavity (the life cycle of Chlamydia pneumoniae is about 72 hours), 7 days, and 28 days, respectively, to analyze the pathogen's infection of the olfactory mucosa, olfactory bulb, trigeminal nerve and four tissues of the brain, as well as the changes
in amyloid deposits β the brain.

Mouse experimental operation flow

The results showed that on days 3 and 7 after infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae, the researchers isolated Chlamydia pneumoniae from all four tissues; It was not detected
in the control group.
For example, in the olfactory bulb, the number of IFUs 3 days after vaccination is significantly higher than 7 days after vaccination, while the trigeminal nerve is the opposite
.

The investigators further used immunohistochemical analysis to confirm the presence of
Chlamydia pneumoniae in sections of four tissues.

Number of pathogenic IFUs after intranasal inoculation with Chlamydia pneumoniae

The nasal epithelium is part of the body's first line of defense against microorganisms and protects nerves
well.
If there is already damage to the olfactory epithelium in the nasal cavity, it becomes easier
for Chlamydia pneumoniae to invade the olfactory nerve, olfactory bulb, and brain.
Not only is the invasion faster, but the pathogen load is also higher
.

As the saying goes, "If you always walk by the river, how can you not get your shoes wet?" "For people who pick their noses regularly, nasal epithelial injuries can be commonplace
.
If Chlamydia pneumoniae enters at this time, it will induce more serious infections and accelerate the occurrence of the disease!

Chlamydia pneumoniae infection of the olfactory nerve, olfactory bulb, and brain after olfactory epithelial injury

So, where does Alzheimer's disease come from?

To confirm the relationship between Chlamydia pneumoniae and β amyloid deposition, the researchers immunolabeled
β amyloid sections within four tissues.

The results showed that 3 days after infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae, β amyloid deposits of amyloid could be observed near the inclusions of Chlamydia pneumoniae in the olfactory nerve of mice.
After 7 days of infection, β amyloid deposits were detected in both the olfactory nerve and the glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb; Twenty-eight days after infection, amyloid deposits β of amyloid near the Chlamydia pneumoniae inclusions in the olfactory globular layer remain
.
This was not the case in the control group
.

Morphology of Chlamydia pneumoniae and β amyloid deposits in the olfactory bulb

In fact, infection with Chlamydia pneumoniae regulates the expression
of Alzheimer's-related genes at the transcriptional level.
At 7 days after infection, 514 upregulated genes and 233 downregulated genes appeared in infected mice.
At 28 days after infection, the number of upregulated and downregulated genes was 232 and 516,
respectively.

Thus, Chlamydia pneumoniae can infect the central nervous system through the sense of smell and trigeminal nerve, thereby increasing the risk
of Alzheimer's disease.

After Chlamydia pneumoniae infection, genetic changes associated with Alzheimer's disease

In summary, this study found that Chlamydia pneumoniae can rapidly infect the sense of smell and trigeminal nerves of mice, and invade the center through nerves within 24-72 hours after inoculation without mediating blood
.
In addition, Chlamydia pneumoniae inclusions in the olfactory nerve and olfactory bulb are associated with the deposition of β amyloid, a pathogen whose infection regulates Alzheimer's-associated genes, thereby increasing the risk of
Alzheimer's disease.

Professor James St John, one of the authors of the study, said that although this was a study in mice, animal evidence also suggested that Chlamydia pneumoniae infection may also cause "invasion" in humans
.
The next step for the researchers is to conduct the study in humans to see if Chlamydia pneumoniae also infects humans through the same pathway, increasing the risk of
late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Professor St John emphasises that picking your nose and pulling out your nose hair are not good behavior! If you also damage the nasal epithelium, how many pathogens must take advantage of the void and flood into your brain?!

What if you really can't help but pick your nose? Xiaobian suggests that you can wash your nose with normal saline or wash your hands before digging
.