Salty food exacerbates multiple sclerosis in mice

[garyp]

Ok..I admit it, I do have a history of liking salty food, something have given up for other reasons recently.

The question I have is, what chips to mice prefer? Hint of lime perhaps? Or something more in the cheese end of the spectrum?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...s-in-mice.html

[ActiveMSers]

Cheetos. Cheese-Itz. Cheesy Poofs. Yes, I watch South Park....

[ActiveMSers]

Nature. 2013 Mar 6. doi: 10.1038/nature11868. [Epub ahead of print]

Sodium chloride drives autoimmune disease by the induction of pathogenic TH17 cells.
Kleinewietfeld M, Manzel A, Titze J, Kvakan H, Yosef N, Linker RA, Muller DN, Hafler DA.

Source

1] Departments of Neurology and Immunobiology, Yale School of Medicine, 15 York Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA [2] Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, 7 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.

Abstract

There has been a marked increase in the incidence of autoimmune diseases in the past half-century. Although the underlying genetic basis of this class of diseases has recently been elucidated, implicating predominantly immune-response genes, changes in environmental factors must ultimately be driving this increase. The newly identified population of interleukin (IL)-17-producing CD4+ helper T cells (TH17 cells) has a pivotal role in autoimmune diseases. Pathogenic IL-23-dependent TH17 cells have been shown to be critical for the development of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model for multiple sclerosis, and genetic risk factors associated with multiple sclerosis are related to the IL-23-TH17 pathway. However, little is known about the environmental factors that directly influence TH17 cells.

Here we show that increased salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) concentrations found locally under physiological conditions in vivo markedly boost the induction of murine and human TH17 cells. High-salt conditions activate the p38/MAPK pathway involving nuclear factor of activated T cells 5 (NFAT5; also called TONEBP) and serum/glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1 (SGK1) during cytokine-induced TH17 polarization. Gene silencing or chemical inhibition of p38/MAPK, NFAT5 or SGK1 abrogates the high-salt-induced TH17 cell development.

The TH17 cells generated under high-salt conditions display a highly pathogenic and stable phenotype characterized by the upregulation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines GM-CSF, TNF-α and IL-2. Moreover, mice fed with a high-salt diet develop a more severe form of EAE, in line with augmented central nervous system infiltrating and peripherally induced antigen-specific TH17 cells.

Thus, increased dietary salt intake might represent an environmental risk factor for the development of autoimmune diseases through the induction of pathogenic TH17 cells.

[ActiveMSers]

Here is the MS Society's release on the research:

Three studies published today by collaborators at Yale, Harvard and MIT/Broad Institute suggest that dietary salt can speed the development of an MS-like disease in mice, and provide new insights on immune system activity involved in MS. While more research needs to be done to confirm a role for salt in triggering MS, or to determine whether reducing salt can inhibit MS immune attacks, these studies pinpoint new avenues for strategies that can decrease MS attacks. These studies were the product of a collaborative team effort funded in part by the National MS Society including a Collaborative MS Research Center Award to David Hafler, MD, at Yale University.

http://www.nationalmssociety.org/new....aspx?nid=7446

[Niko]

Geez, no salts, no sugars, no processed, no gluten, no saturated or trans fats, no everything else that's delicious....
I guess what it comes down to is to eat veggies and some fruit and nuts and roots and maybe some meats.
It seems soooooo simple, until we reach everyday life's realities and realize that it isn't always as easy as it seems.
Take courage, fighting for good food is simple compared to fighting for a healthy life without MS symptoms or progression, so no complaints! I'll do what it takes.

[Fit Paul]

I always hear about MS in mice. How do they give the mice MS. The cause of MS is still uncertain. I call BS to the whole thing.

[pawpaw]

Goodness- pretty attached to salt

I saw these articles and promptly forgot about them. I really, really like salt, but it looks like I need to make a serious effort to decrease my intake. Okay.
They better leave chocolate out of this....

Pell