Your immune response to the dreaded stomach bug can have a
dark side
The short-term effects of a stomach bug suck: cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, and an inability to stray more than a few feet from the toilet. But the
long-term effects might be way more serious, research from
Georgetown University Medical Center suggests.
That’s
because when you get an upper GI infection—like in your esophagus, stomach, or
the first section of your intestine—your body produces a certain protein
called alpha-synuclein to aid in your immune response to fight off
the bug, the researchers write in the Journal of Innate Immunity.
After
taking intestinal biopsies in children with upper GI distress and
intestinal-transplant patients infected with diarrhea-causing norovirus, the
researchers discovered they both showed higher expression of the
alpha-synuclein protein.
That’s the protein implicated in conditions like Parkinson’s, a
neurodegenerative disorder that affects your movement. It can’t be cured,
though its symptoms can be treated.
In most
cases, the influx of alpa-synuclein is a good thing. When the protein is
triggered in normal amounts following an stomach bug, it attracts your white
blood cells to the affected area to fight it off, explains study author Michael
Zasloff, M.D., Ph.D., in a release.
The protein produced by one nerve cell can spread to others, allowing it to
protect the nervous system as well as the GI tract.
The protein
can also use nerves that connect the GI tract to the brainstem as transit,
providing access to the brain.
But too much of the protein—say, through multiple or
chronic gut infections—can become toxic. It overwhelms your body’s system
responsible for clearing it out, damaging nerves and leading to inflammation. The
buildup of this protein may lead to those neurodegenerative
diseases
The link makes sense, the researchers say. Many
patients with Parkinson’s report chronic constipation, which can result from
nerve damage in the gut decades before the brain symptoms begin The clinical
implications of these finding down the line are intriguing: For instance, a
clinical trial testing a drug that reduces the formation of toxic
alpha-synuclein clumps is currently underway.
http://www.menshealth.com/health/diarrhea-and-parkinsons
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