Anxiety increases the risk of gastrointestinal infection and long-term complications | EurekAlert! Science News

Anxiety increases the risk of gastrointestinal infection and long-term complications | EurekAlert! Science News.

From the 2 July 2015 news release

A team comprised of scientists at VIB, KU Leuven and UZ Leuven has made significant progress in uncovering the connection between psychological factors and the immune system. Their findings are based on an investigation of a massive drinking water contamination incident in Belgium in 2010, and are now published in the leading international medical journal Gut.

In December 2010, the Belgian communities of Schelle and Hemiksem in the province of Antwerp faced an outbreak of gastroenteritis, with more than 18,000 people exposed to contaminated drinking water. During the outbreak, VIB and KU Leuven set up a scientific task force to study the incident’s long-term effects, led by Guy Boeckxstaens (UZ Leuven / KU Leuven) and Adrian Liston (VIB / KU Leuven).

Seizing an unexpected opportunity

Adrian Liston (VIB/KU Leuven): “The water contamination in Schelle and Hemiksem was an ‘accidental experiment’ on a scale rarely possible in medical research. By following the patients from the initial contamination to a year after the outbreak we were able to find out what factors altered the risk of long-term complications.”

Anxiety and depression affect immune system

The scientists found that individual with higher levels of anxiety or depression prior to the water contamination developed gastrointestinal infections of increased severity. The same individuals also had an increased risk of developing the long-term complication of irritable bowel syndrome, with intermittent abdominal cramps, diarrhea or constipation a year after the initial contamination.

Guy Boeckxstaens (UZ Leuven / KU Leuven): “Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a condition of chronic abdominal pain and altered bowel movements. This is a common condition with large socio-economic costs, yet there is so much that still remains to be discovered about the causes. Our investigation found that that anxiety or depression alters the immune response towards a gastrointestinal infection, which can result in more severe symptoms and the development of chronic irritable bowel syndrome.”

Psychological factors key in preventing long-term complications

The study’s results provide valuable new insight into the cause of irritable bowel syndrome, and underscoring the connection between psychological factors and the immune system.

Adrian Liston (VIB/KU Leuven): “These results once again emphasize the importance of mental health care and social support services. We need to understand that health, society and economics are not independent, and ignoring depression and anxiety results in higher long-term medical costs.”

[Press release] Unexpected turn in diabetes research suggests reinterpretation of years of research — ScienceDaily

Unexpected turn in diabetes research suggests reinterpretation of years of research — ScienceDaily.

Excerpts from the press release

Date:January 20, 2015

Source:KU Leuven

Summary:Years of diabetes research carried out on mice whose DNA had been altered with a human growth hormone gene is now ripe for reinterpretation after a new study confirms that the gene had an unintended effect on the mice’s insulin production, a key variable in diabetes research.

Years of diabetes research carried out on mice whose DNA had been altered with a human growth hormone gene is now ripe for reinterpretation after a new study by researchers at KU Leuven confirms that the gene had an unintended effect on the mice’s insulin production, a key variable in diabetes research.

Genetically modified mice have been used in medical research for over thirty years. To expedite the cutting-and-pasting of fragments of DNA, the pioneers of the method inserted a human growth hormone gene alongside other modified DNA. Researchers assumed that the DNA of the human growth hormone would remain tightly encapsulated in the modified DNA of the mouse.

They did not expect the mice to begin producing their own human growth hormone — but that appears to be exactly what happened.

KU Leuven professors Frans Schuit and John Creemers used the genetically modified mice regularly in their lab. To their surprise, they observed that the mice showed pregnancy-like symptoms despite not being pregnant at all.

Digging deeper, the researchers discovered that this pregnancy-like state was being caused by the human growth hormone, explains Professor Schuit: “In mice, the human growth hormone has the same effect as hormones that are produced by the placenta in pregnant mice. Just as in pregnancy, the cells in the pancreas that are responsible for the production of insulin change. They increase in number and begin to produce more insulin. And that happens to be exactly what we study in diabetes research.”

…

Related articles

• Unexpected turn in diabetes research
• Study: Diabetes drug affecting fish in Lake Michigan
• Diabetes Mellitus Control Linked to Poverty?
• People With Type 2 Diabetes Urged to Take Control of Their Condition
• Diabetes: could bacteria provide a cure?