Progesterone was proven in a research to have a protecting impact on gut nerve cells. These findings elevate hopes that the hormone might be used within the combat towards Parkinson’s illness.
The nerve cells of the gastrointestinal tract talk with these of the mind and spinal twine. This implies that the nervous system of the digestive tract might affect processes within the mind that result in Parkinson’s. Paula Neufeld and Lennart Stegemann, medical doctoral college students on the Division of Cytology on the College of Medication at Ruhr College Bochum, Germany, had been the primary to detect progesterone receptors within the nerve cells of the gastrointestinal tract and confirmed that progesterone protects the cells. Their findings open up views for the event of novel neuroprotective therapeutic approaches to counteract ailments akin to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. The research was revealed within the journal Cells on April 21, 2023.
The second mind
The enteric nervous system (ENS) is a fancy community that stretches alongside the whole gastrointestinal tract. It consists of about 100 million nerve cells, autonomously controls digestive processes and is also known as the second mind of people. However its operate is way more than digestion: latest analysis has proven that the ENS communicates intently with the central nervous system (CNS), i.e. the mind and spinal twine.
The communication between the ENS and the CNS is presently related to the pathogenesis of assorted neurological ailments akin to Parkinson’s illness and Alzheimer’s illness, in addition to melancholy.”
Professor Carsten Theiβ, Head of the Division of Cytology at Ruhr College Bochum
The gut-brain axis isn’t a one-way road; each nervous methods affect one another.
An individual’s weight loss program has a direct impression on the intestinal microbiome, which in flip interacts with the ENS. Research present that the composition of the microbiome may also have an effect on the CNS by way of the gut-brain axis, particularly by way of the vagus nerve, and promote ailments akin to Parkinson’s illness. A balanced weight loss program can subsequently not solely contribute to the preservation of nerve cells within the gut, however may additionally delay Parkinson’s illness for a few years and even forestall it completely.
The protecting impact of progesterone
Medical doctoral college students Paula Neufeld and Lennart Stegemann have now efficiently demonstrated a protecting impact of the pure steroid hormone progesterone on the nerve cells of the ENS. In a collection of experiments, the duo cultivated nerve cells from the ENS over a number of weeks and handled them with a cell toxin to simulate dangerous situations much like Parkinson’s illness. They discovered that the nerve cells that had been moreover handled with progesterone died considerably much less ceaselessly than the untreated cells.
Paula Neufeld factors out the importance of their discovery: “Our analysis offers vital insights to finish our primary data concerning the position of progesterone receptors within the enteric nervous system. This opens up fully new avenues for learning the neuroprotective mechanisms of motion of progesterone inside and outdoors the intestinal tract.” Lennart Stegemann provides that “this research might doubtlessly pave the best way for brand spanking new steroid hormone-based therapeutic approaches. There’s additionally hope that steroid-based therapeutic approaches might assist to decelerate and even cease neurodegenerative ailments”.
Cooperation companions
The paper is the results of collaboration and well-established translational analysis between the Division of Cytology headed by Professor Carsten Theiβ on the Ruhr College Bochum Medical Campus and Professor Matthias Vorgerd, senior advisor on the Clinic for Neurology on the BG College Hospital Bergmannsheil in Bochum.
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Journal reference:
Stegemann, L. N., et al. (2023) Progesterone: A Neuroprotective Steroid of the Gut. Cells. doi.org/10.3390/cells12081206.
