Science
Related: About this forumResearchers Find Missing Link Between the Brain and Immune System
In a stunning discovery that overturns decades of textbook teaching, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined that the brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist. That such vessels could have escaped detection when the lymphatic system has been so thoroughly mapped throughout the body is surprising on its own, but the true significance of the discovery lies in the effects it could have on the study and treatment of neurological diseases ranging from autism to Alzheimers disease to multiple sclerosis.
Instead of asking, How do we study the immune response of the brain? Why do multiple sclerosis patients have the immune attacks? now we can approach this mechanistically. Because the brain is like every other tissue connected to the peripheral immune system through meningeal lymphatic vessels, said Jonathan Kipnis, PhD, professor in the UVA Department of Neuroscience and director of UVAs Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG). It changes entirely the way we perceive the neuro-immune interaction. We always perceived it before as something esoteric that cant be studied. But now we can ask mechanistic questions.
We believe that for every neurological disease that has an immune component to it, these vessels may play a major role, Kipnis said. Hard to imagine that these vessels would not be involved in a [neurological] disease with an immune component.
Kevin Lee, PhD, chairman of the UVA Department of Neuroscience, described his reaction to the discovery by Kipnis lab: The first time these guys showed me the basic result, I just said one sentence: Theyll have to change the textbooks. There has never been a lymphatic system for the central nervous system, and it was very clear from that first singular observation and theyve done many studies since then to bolster the finding that it will fundamentally change the way people look at the central nervous systems relationship with the immune system.
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http://neurosciencenews.com/lymphatic-system-brain-neurobiology-2080/
nolabels
(13,133 posts)This really important but it will take awhile for some or many to realize how and why. When people are living in the age of discovery it is often not realized till long after it's over
xocet
(3,875 posts)BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)because it is the major proportion of the immune system.
Maps of the lymphatic system: old (left) and updated to reflect UVAs discovery.
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Octafish
(55,745 posts)What's next for the Thinking Thing?
Hope the 99-percent can get in on it.