Brain helps fight Cancer
It has long been known that if a patient with an oncological diagnosis cannot cope with stress, the disease progresses much faster and more aggressively than in calmer patients. It is believed that stress relief is promoted by increasing the level of beta-endorphin synthesized by brain cells – the "hormone of happiness", the production of which is stimulated by exercise, pleasant communication and many other enjoyable aspects of life.
The results of earlier studies have shown that a lack of beta-endorphin synthesizing neurons or their low activity are associated with various diseases. For example, a small number of such neurons are observed in the brains of patients with depression and schizophrenia. Neurons producing too little beta-endorphin are characteristic of the brain of obese patients. In both cases, patients are at a higher risk of developing infectious diseases and cancer.
Scientists at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, New Jersey), working under the guidance of Dr. Dipak K. Sarkar, suggested that beta-endorphin-producing neurons not only improve a person's morale, but also play a role in regulating stress reactions and immune functions that control the formation and the progression of tumors.
To obtain evidence of the role of beta-endorphin in controlling tumor growth, scientists isolated nerve stem cells, transformed them into beta-endorphin-producing neurons with the help of special chemical agents, and transplanted them into the brains of rats that were previously injected with carcinogens that induce the formation of prostate cancer.
In 90% of cases, transplantation of such neurons prevented the development of prostate cancer in rats. At the same time, there was a selective activation of natural killer cells – lymphocytes responsible for the destruction of tumor cells – which suppressed inflammation around the tumor focus and destroyed it.
The authors are very encouraged by the results obtained and believe that they will be able to implement them into clinical practice, but in this case they propose to replace cell transplantation with taking drugs that stimulate the synthesis of beta-endorphin.
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru based on the materials of ScienceDaily
10.06.2008