Circulating myeloid cells invade the central nervous system to mediate cachexia during pancreatic cancer.
Elife
; 92020 05 11.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32391790
Weight loss, decreased appetite and fatigue are symptoms of a wasting disorder known as cachexia, which is common in several serious diseases such as AIDS, chronic lung disease and heart failure. Up to 80 percent of people with advanced cancer also develop cachexia, and there are no effective treatments. It is not known how cachexia develops, but symptoms like appetite loss and fatigue are controlled by the brain. One theory is that the brain may be responding to a malfunctioning immune response that causes inflammation. While the brain was thought to be protected from this, new research has shown that it is possible for cells from the immune system to reach the brain in some conditions. To find out if this also happens in cancer, Burfeind et al. studied mice that had been implanted with pancreatic cancer cells and were showing signs of cachexia. Samples from the mice's brains showed that immune cells known as neutrophils were present and active. A protein known as CCR2 was found in higher levels in the brains of these mice. This protein is involved in the movement of neutrophil cells through the body. To see what effect this protein had, Burfeind et al. gave the mice a drug that blocks CCR2. This prevented the neutrophils from entering the brain and reduced the symptoms of cachexia in the mice. To further confirm the role of CCR2, the mice were genetically modified so that they could not produce the protein. This reduced the number of neutrophils seen in the brain but not in the rest of the body. This suggests that a drug targeting CCR2 could help to reduce the symptoms of cachexia, without disrupting the normal immune response away from the brain. This approach would still need to be tested in clinical trials before it is possible to know how effective it might be in humans.
Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Asunto principal:
Neoplasias Pancreáticas
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Encéfalo
/
Caquexia
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Células Mieloides
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Carcinoma Ductal Pancreático
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Límite:
Animals
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Elife
Año:
2020
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Estados Unidos