IMMUNOLOGY2025™ Conference Recordings-Environment-body-brain interactions

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The speaker described how modifiable environmental factors influence disease through the nervous system. First, they focused on psychological stress and inflammatory bowel disease. In both human data and mouse models, stress increased monocyte accumulation in the gut, elevated TNF, and worsened colitis. The stress signal acted through the HPA axis, but unexpectedly the key responders were enteric glial cells, not monocytes. These glial cells upregulated CSF1, which promoted inflammatory monocyte recruitment. Human IBD samples also showed correlations between stress, monocyte markers, and inflammation.<br /><br />The second half examined Hirschsprung’s disease, a congenital gut innervation disorder. Surprisingly, disease severity varied by location and diet. A protective diet improved epithelial mitochondrial function, preserved gut hypoxia, limited Enterobacteriaceae overgrowth, reduced permeability, and extended survival. Targeting oxygen-responsive bacteria with sodium tungstate or antibiotics improved outcomes, suggesting diet and microbiome manipulation could help manage this disease.

Keywords

psychological stress

inflammatory bowel disease

enteric glial cells

monocyte recruitment

Hirschsprung's disease

gut microbiome