A study supported by the National Institutes of Health suggests that the response of immune system cells inside the protective covering surrounding the brain may contribute to the cognitive decline that can occur in a person with chronic high blood pressure. This finding, published in Nature Neuroscience, may shed light on new ways to counteract the effects of high blood pressure on cognition. The study was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), a part of NIH.
"The role of immune signaling in cognitive decline is critically important to understand," said Roderick Corriveau, Ph.D., program director, NINDS.
"These findings offer insight into how signaling from the immune system could contribute to symptoms of cognitive decline that ultimately result in dementia diagnoses."
Hypertension affects more than 1 billion people worldwide and can lead to a decline in cognitive function including when a stroke occurs, but also even when a person with high blood pressure does not have a stroke.
However, efforts to control cognitive loss in people who do not experience a stroke with treatments that lower blood pressure have shown mixed results.
The findings of this mouse study suggest that immune cells around and within the brain become abnormally activated under conditions that mimic a common form of hypertension, and this activation leads to impaired brain function.
Using a mouse model of high blood pressure, the researchers led by Costantino Iadecola, M.D., director and chair of the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, New York City, found abnormally increased levels of interleukin-17 (IL-17), a chemical normally released in the body to activate the immune system, in the cerebral spinal fluid and the brain.
Previously, Dr. Iadecola's team showed that a high salt diet increased IL-17 in the gut, which was followed by cognitive impairment.
These new findings add to that story by showing that IL-17 is acting within the brain itself.
sources-science daily
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