New research, published in the journal Nature Immunology, now shows how a high intake of salt may cause inflammation in multiple sclerosis.
salt

One recent study reveals how excessive salt consumption may trigger inflammation in people with MS.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disorder in which the body’s immune system destroys the protective coating around neurons called myelin.

This neurological disease affects around 400,000 people in the United States and approximately 2.5 million adults worldwide.

Generally, women are at a higher risk of developing the condition than men.

While researchers do not yet know what causes MS, an interplay between genetic predisposition and environmental factors is likely to be key.

For instance, researchers have so far identified 233 haplotypes that underpin MS. A haplotype is a set of genetic variants that can be found on the same chromosome and that is inherited from one parent.

As for environmental factors, studies have found that vitamin D insufficiency, smoking, obesity, and a high dietary intake of salt all correlate with a higher risk of MS. Some studies have zoomed in on the effect of a high salt intake on a model of MS and found that it exacerbates brain inflammation, while others have found that it boosts the number of pro-inflammatory cells.

However, until now, the precise molecular mechanism behind this effect that salt has on MS was not known. New research finds a molecular pathway that explains how a high-salt environment might potentially trigger the autoimmune disorder.

Tomokazu Sumida, an associate research scientist in the Hafler laboratory at the Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT, is the first author of the new paper.

How too much salt affects immune cells
In their study, Sumida and colleagues analyzed regulatory T cells (Tregs) taken from people with MS. The main role of these cells is to control the immune response by regulating or suppressing other immune cells.

Tregs also “control the immune response to self and foreign particles (antigens) and help prevent autoimmune disease.”