Scientists from the Pasteur Institute described mechanism of direct interaction of bacteria in the intestine with the brain. The discovery will allow the development of new methods for the treatment of diabetes, obesity and other diseases associated with metabolic disorders.
It turned out that microbes send muropeptides, the building blocks of the bacterial cell wall, to the brain. Neurons receive them with the help of NOD2 receptors, the expression of which occurs mainly in hypothalamus.
During the experiments, scientists turned off these receptors in laboratory rodents. Then neurons “lost” muropeptides. This led to the fact that the brain ceased to control the process of eating food. The rodents ate a lot and got fat, they had an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The mechanism of interaction between muropeptides and brain neurons will help to find out the causes of certain diseases.