Don't feed the mice fast food
The immune system reacts to fast food as an infection
Scientists from Norway, Germany, the Netherlands and the USA have found that the body reacts to the consumption of unhealthy food in the same way as to a bacterial infection, and the immune system remains in a hyperactive state for a long time after that.
With the help of immunity, living organisms protect themselves from the harmful effects of foreign substances and pathogenic microorganisms.
Any deviations from the normal functioning of the immune system in the direction of strengthening or weakening are dangerous for the body. Overly enhanced immunity can begin to attack healthy cells of the body. In addition, hyperactivation of the immune system is accompanied by inflammation, which is associated with many diseases.
Previous studies have already shown that in response to excessive consumption of sweets, an immune reaction begins to develop in the body, including an inflammatory response. In a new study, a team of immunologists tested what effect the consumption of products from the "Western diet" ("fast food") has on immunity.
For their experiment, the scientists put experimental mice on a diet with an increased content of fats, sugar and fiber-free grain products. After four weeks of such nutrition in the body of mice, scientists have recorded changes related to immunity. Thus, their levels of substances involved in the immune response and associated with inflammation – cytokines and acute phase proteins - increased. Scientists also recorded an increase in the number of immune cells – granulocytes and monocytes - in the blood of mice.
Since these cells are formed in the bone marrow from progenitor cells, scientists have suggested that the "Western diet" should have activated the genes responsible for the synthesis of these cells in mice. And the genomic analysis carried out confirmed this assumption.
Subsequent experiments showed that even after the transition to a normal diet, an increase in the number of monocytes and granulocytes remained in the blood of mice. Their immunity continued to be in a hyperactive state due to the "Western diet", although their nutrition was already natural. And it was caused by epigenetic changes in genes associated with the synthesis of immune cells.
Drawing from an article in Cell – VM
And epigenome changes, as scientists know, have a long-term effect on the activity of genes. Moreover, these immune cells had a more activated phenotype: they stimulated the development of inflammation more than usual.
"Our research shows that the immune system perceives the "Western diet" as a threat to the body and sets in motion a powerful anti-infective mechanism. At the same time, there is a long–term maintenance of an increase in the level of immune cells, which are reprogrammed to stimulate inflammation more powerfully," the authors write.
The study was published in the journal Cell (Christ et al., Western Diet Triggers NLRP3-Dependent Innate Immune Reprogramming).
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru