2023-07-16 22:04:47
According to a recent study, psychological stress affects the gut’s immune system, creating conditions that favor the development of inflammatory diseases.
It is now well established that psychological stress has a major impact on inflammatory processes affecting several organs1. This is particularly striking with regard to inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis: several studies have indeed reported that stressful life events (job loss, divorce, mortality) are associated to sudden flare-ups (flare-up) of the main symptoms of these diseases (abdominal pain, diarrhea, fatigue).
Immune influence
Psychological stress activates two pathways in our body, the sympathetic nervous system which leads to the production of adrenaline and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis which generates glucocorticoids such as cortisol.
In a study recently published in the prestigious scientific journal Cellresearchers have observed that it is the production of glucocorticoids that is largely responsible for the molecular link between psychological stress and inflammation2.
The dissection of the biochemical pathways involved in this link has revealed a novel mechanism of action for these glucocorticoids: instead of interacting directly with the inflammatory cells of the intestine, as is usually the case during inflammation, the he study shows that glucocorticoids act rather indirectly, by targeting the nervous system (neurons and glial cells) present at the level of the organ.
In the presence of high levels of corticosteroids generated by stress, nerve cells secrete factors that attract immune cells and cause the release of inflammatory molecules, which are very irritating to the cells of the intestine.
At the same time, glucocorticoids interfere with the maturation of neurons in the intestine, preventing them from producing the molecules normally required to generate the muscle contractions that allow food to move through the digestive tract. In other words, it is an increase in local inflammation, combined with a reduction in the speed of intestinal transit, which would explain the aggravating effects of stress on inflammatory bowel disease.
Stress management
According to the authors, these results suggest that improving the mental state of patients might represent an important facet of the treatment of inflammatory bowel diseases and possibly of all diseases involving inflammation.
We see that more and more people have difficulty adapting to the frenzy that characterizes the modern era, which can lead to the development of several psychological problems such as chronic stress, anxiety and depression. .
Since these mental disorders can in turn influence physical health, it therefore seems desirable to adopt a comprehensive approach to the treatment of illnesses that takes into account this body-mind interaction.
“A healthy mind in a healthy body” said the Greek philosopher and scholar Thales of Miletus more than 6 centuries before our era. Words that are still relevant almost 2700 years later.
1 Haykin H et Rolls A. The neuroimmune response during stress: a physiological perspective. Immunity 2021; 54: 1933–1947.
2 Schneider KM et coll. The enteric nervous system relays psychological stress to intestinal inflammation. Cell 2023; 186:2823-2838.e20.
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