Scientists Discover a Subset of Brain Cells That Fight Inflammation with Instructions from Gut Bacteria

Figuring out how to harness this beneficial activity may lead to new treatment approaches for MS, including probiotics to alter the balance of gut bacteria.

“This is a very novel mechanism by which the gut controls inflammation in the brain, said Dr. Quintana. “We have a list of other populations of astrocytes, and we’re working to see how the gut flora may control them.”

“Gut-licensed IFN- + NK cells drive LAMP1+TRAIL+ anti-inflammatory astrocytes,” by Drs. Liliana M. Sanmarco, Michael A. Wheeler, Francisco Quintana (Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard), and international collaborators, was published on January 6, 2021 in Nature.  Read more on the Brigham and Women’s website.