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Cells from stressed-out mice act as an antidepressant - health - 28 January 2015 - New Scientist@import "/css/gridmain.css"; @import "/css/article.css";@import "/css/comlist.css";@import "/data/images/ns/haas/haas.css";/* specific to this article view */#maincol {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px; padding-top:15px;}/* Basic commenting CSS*/.combx {margin:10px 0 0 0;padding:10px 20px 10px 10px;}#compnl {border-top:solid #A7A7A7 1px;}/* comment styles for article page only *//* form styles */#comform {margin:20px 50px 20px 10px;}#comform label{width: 90px;text-align: right;}#comform div.userhelp {margin:0 0 2px 115px;}#comform input.textinput, #comform textarea {width:300px;}#comform div.floatclear, #comformlogin div.floatclear {margin-bottom:10px;}#comform input#comcancel{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform input#compreview{margin:0 10px 0 0;}#comform textarea {height:95px;}#comformlogin {margin:20px 100px 20px 100px;}#comformlogin label{width: 120px;}#comformlogin input.textinput {width:150px;}#snv_health a {background: url('/img/bg/snv_health.jpg') no-repeat; color:#fff;}/* article social media */#sharebtns {width:440px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:20px; padding:15px 10px 15px 10px; background:#F2F2F2;}#sharebtns div.floatleft {margin-right:10px;}#sharebtns .stumble {margin-top:1px;}.grpTools img {margin-right:8px; margin-top:9px;}#fblike {margin-top:41px;}
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Cells from stressed-out mice act as an antidepressant28 January 2015 byJessica HamzelouMagazine issue 3006. Subscribe and saveFor similar stories, visit theMental HealthTopic GuideWHAT doesn't kill you makes you stronger, at least when it comes to stress and immune cells. Mice that received a cocktail of immune cells from bullied mice appeared to experience a mood boost. The unexpected discovery may have implications for treating depression. We know that prolonged bouts of stress take their toll on the immune system. That leaves us susceptible to illness, which in some cases can lead to depression. Most research on the link between immune health and mood has focused on the innate branch of the immune system – the cells that mount the first response to pathogens, says Miles Herkenham at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. His team wondered if there might also be a role for the adaptive branch of the immune system, which "learns" about a pathogen in order to respond rapidly the next time it appears. To find out, the team introduced an aggressive competitor mouse into the cages of male mice. "These mice are like bullies," says Herkenham. Two weeks later, the bullied mice seemed depressed: they cowered in dark corners and seemed uninterested in the scent of a female. The team extracted their adaptive immune cells and injected them into another set of mice bred to lack these cells. This meant that the recipient mice essentially acquired the adaptive immune system of the bullied ones. If anything, Herkenham thought the recipients would become depressed, too. But the opposite happened: the cells appeared to have "antidepressant-like effects", he says. The mice spent more time exploring open areas and were more interested in females compared to similar mice that didn't receive the injection (Journal of Neuroscience, DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.2278-14.2015). The team also injected the cells into a strain of mice known for their unresponsiveness. "These mice are rarely used in research because they don't do anything – they just sit in a corner," says Herkenham. The mice were soon running around, exploring their surroundings with abandon. "It was like a personality change," he says. Herkenham thinks that adaptive immune cells may cope with stress by building up a sort of mood-boosting resilience, although he doesn't know how this happens. What's unclear is why the donor mice didn't eventually become better at coping with their bullies, and why chronically stressed people often have weak immune systems. In these cases, the adaptive immune system appears to be held back from exerting its beneficial effects – and the innate branch of the immune system may be to blame, says Herkenham. It's already known that mice which receive a transplant of cells from the innate immune system can show symptoms of anxiety and depression. Perhaps the two arms of the immune system are in effect battling it out to dominate mood. George Slavich at the University of California, Los Angeles, says it would be premature to call the adaptive immune system "antidepressive". "The immune system is extremely complex and these two branches interact in many ways," he says. The team now hope to disentangle what is going on and explore whether reprogramming adaptive immune could hint at a new treatment for depression. This article appeared in print under the headline "How ironic: eau de stress can be an antidepressant"
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