Chronic psychological stress triggers vessel clogging episodes in sickle cell anemia patients, according to a new study conducted by a team at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The results were published in Immunity.
"Research for sickle-cell disease is chronically underfunded and those with the condition are in need—and deserve—new treatments that can help address this major health disparity," said study leader Paul S. Frenette. "We hope our most recent findings can help point to novel solutions for treating this painful and deadly disease."
Through mouse model studies, the team was able to identify that the path to vessel clogging episodes begins in the brain. They found that when stress triggers glucocorticoid secretion, the hormone finds its way to the gut and increases its permeability. This increased permeability allows for segmented filamentous bacteria to interact with helper immune cells. When the bacteria stimulate the cells to create pro-inflammatory molecules, the body is triggered to age and accumulate neutrophils. These aged neutrophils are the inflammation inducing cells that catalyze the vesicles.
Although the events were seen in both sickle cell diseased mice and healthy mice, lethal episodes only occurred in sickle cell disease mice. "Importantly, we found we could markedly reduce stress-induced vessel clogging episodes in mice through several different interventions: inhibiting the synthesis of glucocorticoids, depleting segmented filamentous bacteria, or blocking the inflammatory molecules induced by these bacteria," Frenette said. "Each of those actions could potentially limit the impact of psychological stress on people with SCD," they concluded.