A new study has found that asthma causes T lymphocyte cells in the body to induce inflammation of the lungs and also prevent the growth of brain tumors. T lymphocyte cells, or T cells, are a type of immune cells that become activated when an individual develops asthma, a breathing disease which causes their airways to become inflamed and narrow.
The study was conducted by researchers from the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis, whose objective was to find out whether individuals with asthma were less likely to develop brain tumors in comparison to other people. The discovery suggests that reprogramming these immune cells in patients with brain tumors to act like T lymphocyte cells in patients with asthma may be a new approach in brain tumor treatment. The researchers published their findings in the “Nature Communications” online journal.
The theory that individuals with inflammatory ailments such as eczema or asthma were less susceptible to developing brain tumors was suggested more than a decade ago. However, some researchers questioned whether the link was real, because there was no evident reason why there would be an association between these different illnesses.
The first author of the study, Jit Chatterjee, was focused on investigating this link. Chatterjee worked with Prof. Michael J. Holtzman on the study.
For their research, the scientists used genetically modified mice that carried a mutation in their genes that facilitated the development of optic gliomas when the mice were three months old. The mice were divided into two groups, one of which was the control group.
When the mice were between four and six weeks old, Chatterjee exposed them to irritants that caused asthma to develop. The researcher examined the mice for optic pathway gliomas at three and six months of age, finding that the asthmatic mice didn’t develop brain tumors.
More experiments led to the discovery that inducing asthma in mice that were tumor prone changed their T cell behavior, with the researcher finding that the mice’s T lymphocyte cells began to secrete decorin, a protein that acted on microglia and blocked their activation by causing interference with the NFkappaB activation pathway.
In patients with asthma, decorin affects tissues that line the airways, aggravating symptoms of the disease. On the other hand, microglias are a type of immune cell located throughout the spinal cord and brain. The researchers’ findings propose that blocking activation of microglia cells may be useful in the treatment of brain tumors.
There is a flurry of research going on with regard to cancers affecting the brain, and there is a high likelihood that a number of entities such as CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) could develop breakthrough treatments that revolutionize the way brain cancer is currently treated.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CNSP
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