What if winter was more bearable for patients with multiple sclerosis? That’s according to new research from scientists at the University of Geneva, which suggests that low temperatures may help alleviate symptoms of the disease.
- Low temperatures may ease symptoms of multiple sclerosis
- It is by slowing down the action of the immune system (MS is an autoimmune disease) that the cold could produce this effect.
According to this study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, exposure to cold causes the body to divert its resources from the immune system to maintaining body heat. This phenomenon would therefore at the same time lead to a decrease in the activity of the immune system and its harmful activity, thus attenuating the development of an autoimmune disease such as multiple sclerosis (MS).
To reach these conclusions, the research team examined mice suffering from experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a model of MS. “We wondered if it was possible to divert the energy spent by the body when the immune system is disrupted“, develops Mirko Trajkovski, professor in the Department of Cellular Physiology and Metabolism and at the Diabetes Center of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva (UNIGE), who led the study.
Based on this principle, the scientists placed the mice in a relatively colder living environment – around 10°C – after an acclimatization period consisting of gradually lowering the ambient temperature.
Improvement of motor disorders
After a few days, “clear improvements” were observed in rodents, particularly in terms of their motor skills. The mice have in fact gone from the impossibility of walking on their hind legs, to a slight paralysis of the tail. “The cold modulates the activity of inflammatory monocytes by decreasing their ability to present antigens, which made T cells, a type of cell that plays a critical role in autoimmunity, less active“, explains Mirko Trajkovski. According to the scientists behind this work, these results “pave the way for a fundamental biological concept on the allocation of energy resources“.
The most common autoimmune disease of the central nervous system, MS is manifested by a reaction of the immune system against “myelin”, a component of the protective sheath of nerve fibers crucial for the transmission of nerve signals in cells of the brain and spinal cord.
In most cases, this chronic disease progresses through inflammatory flare-ups focal with the appearance of one or more neurological signs, such as motor disorders, tingling, sensory and balance disorders or even a sudden loss of sight.
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