The meninges layer that protects the brain and spinal cord is found to host a diverse population of immune cells. A lot of interest is starting to rise around meningeal humoral Immunity. A keen detail that is starting to surface is that a lot of these immune defenses that are found in the brain are coming from the gut. Every day, there are over 750 milliliters of blood that are entering the brain. Blood is an easy transportation mechanism for many pathogens including viruses and bacteria to circulate throughout the body. As a result, the immune cells need to be prepared to protect the brain, but how do they do it? Well, a group of researchers found that gut immune cells are trained to produce an army of antibodies that are able to stop pathogens. The group of researchers from the University of Cambridge found that in the meningeal layer, the immune cells produce an antibody known as Immunoglobulin A also known as IgA. It was found that these same antibodies are also found in the lining of the gut and the lungs. As the researchers dwelled in further, they conducted research on a group of mice to determine if there was a link between the gut and the brain antibodies. They had one group of mice that had no microbes in the gut and no plasma cells in the meningeal layer. When the researchers transplanted mice and human poop into the mice, the gut microbe was restored, but another miracle occurred in which the plasma cells in the meningeal layer were restored as well. To dwell further into this knowledge, the group of researchers inserted a fungus species commonly found in the gut, into the bloodstream. They saw that the fungus that tried to enter the brain through the blood vessels had IgA antibodies that formed a mesh around the vessels as a response to stop fungal entry. As presented, it started to provide a clearer understanding of the gut microbiomes and the role it can play on different organs and on our body.
Fitzpatrick, Z., Frazer, G., Ferro, A., Clare, S., Bouladoux, N., Ferdinand, J., . . . Clatworthy, M. (2020, November 04). Gut-educated IgA plasma cells defend the meningeal venous sinuses. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2886-4
Pratap, A. (2020, November 15). Protecting the brain from infection may start with a gut reaction. Retrieved November 15, 2020, from https://www.sciencenews.org/article/brain-infection-gut-immune-system
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