New research has discovered that there may be a link between higher levels of immune cells in the blood and multiple sclerosis . For the research, scientists studied the genetic data of a large group of individuals with European ancestry. They found that a specific immune cell known as natural killer cells was associated with a 24% rise in the risk of developing multiple sclerosis.
The researchers, whose findings were reported in “Frontiers in Immunology,” state that understanding the link between natural killer cells and multiple sclerosis could help them develop potential therapies for this illness.
Multiple sclerosis develops when an individual’s immune system malfunctions and starts to attack their nerves and brain. While numerous studies have been conducted on this particular indication, researchers still don’t know exactly what causes the nervous system to go haywire. Possible reasons for this include genetic makeup, environmental exposure and a history of other autoimmune diseases.
A variety of multiple sclerosis treatments usually work by alleviating the chronic inflammatory response that damages nerve cells and causes the disease’s symptoms. In their report, the researchers state that such treatments could limit the progression of the disease by modulating this response.
They used the genetic data of more than half a million individuals of European descent from the International Blood Cell Consortium in their study. This data was used to establish how blood immune cell counts were impacted by genetic variants.
In addition to this, the researchers used this genetic data, which included multiple sclerosis patients and healthy controls, to determine the potential effect immune cell counts could have on multiple sclerosis. They also studied specific subtypes of immune cells from data sourced from more than 3,700 individuals from Sardinia, a large island in the Mediterranean.
The researchers note that their results were interesting, finding that higher white blood cell numbers increased an individual’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis by 24%. This is in addition to discovering that lymphocytes such as B-cells and T-cells as well as other cells that contribute to multiple sclerosis damage also grew the risk of developing this illness.
This study offers conclusive evidence that higher lymphocyte and leukocyte numbers in the blood heighten an individual’s risk of developing multiple sclerosis. However, since the researchers’ sample on immune cell subtypes was small, they recommended genetic profiling using a more diverse data set on individuals with European ancestry.
Additionally, they note that their findings underscored the need for research into the role of natural killer-T cells in the development of multiple sclerosis.
Diseases such as multiple sclerosis, which develop as a result of the immune system responding to a threat in an unusual way, are the focus of companies such as AREV Life Sciences Global Corp. (CSE: AREV) (OTC: AREVF) that are trying to develop treatments to tone down this immune response.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to AREV Life Sciences Global Corp. (CSE: AREV) (OTC: AREVF) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/AREVF
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