New research shows that theActivation of the immune systemfinally detect and cause some of the harmful effects such as alcohol addiction. This is the result of a study carried out by an international team. The research was led by Santiago Canals from the Institute of Neuroscience in Alicante (Spain) and Wolfgang Sommer from the Central Institute for Mental Health at Heidelberg University.
Immune system can recognize and activate alcohol addiction
So the researchers have observed that alcohol can increase its addictiveness. This happens because its active ingredient changes the geometry of the brain, particularly the gray matter. This emerges from the published study on rats and humans, which is a completely new addiction mechanism. According to their observations, the cells of the immune system in the brain, called microglia, are responsible for the change in geometry. This can recognize the gray matter in the presence of alcohol addiction. Alcohol as a pollutant causes the activation of these immune cells, which leads to a change in their biochemical properties and shape. Furthermore, this shape changes from a branching to round or amoeboid shape. This change in shape accordingly alters the geometry of the extracellular space, allowing greater diffusion of substances that would be limited without alcohol. One of these substances is dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is particularly important for dependence and addictive processes.
Increasing the concentration and range of diffusion of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, glutamate or neuropeptides can transform the weak properties of alcohol into powerful effectors in the formation of drinking habits. These ultimately lead to addiction in some people, according to the researchers. So understanding and ultimately reversing these changes may help develop more effective treatments. This translational study shows that the cerebral gray matter of humans and rats that regularly consume alcohol has a higher average diffusivity. Such changes occur shortly after the onset of alcohol consumption in rats. They persist into early abstinence in both rodents and humans and are associated with a strong decrease in extracellular space barriers. This can be explained by a reaction of the microglia to an attacker such as alcohol.
Further research results
In a previous paper, the same group showed that alcohol continues to damage the brain even after you stop drinking. This work already reflected an increase in diffusivity in the brain due to alcohol. However, the researchers did not yet know exactly why this was the case. So the new study attempts to solve the puzzle. It shows that the increase in diffusivity is due to the activation of the brain's immune cells.This studywas developed as part of a broad European collaboration by researchers from the UMH-CSIC Institute of Neuroscience in Alicante, the Polytechnic University of Valencia, the German Central Institute for Mental Health, the University of Camerino (Italy) and the Charles University of Prague.
