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Research anxiety has a negative effect on the immune system
There are many people who suffer from anxiety disorders. These are not only a heavy burden for the affected person in everyday life, but can also have consequences for the body. For example, anxiety affects, among other things, our immune system.
Physical effects
According to experts, nearly ten percent of people worldwide suffer from depression and anxiety. Anxiety disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders in Germany. They usually manifest in excessive anxiety, fear and a tendency to avoid potentially onerous situations, including social contact. But fear can also affect the immune system.
Anxiety is an important protective mechanism of the body when the reaction is appropriate. But if left unchecked and exposed to prolonged exposure to such extreme stress reactions, it may affect the immune system. (Image: pathdoc / fotolia.com) Epigenetic changes due to anxiety
Fear arises when triggering stimuli are followed by an excessive stress reaction. This is an important protective mechanism of the body when the reaction is appropriate.
If left uncontrolled and exposed to such extreme stress reactions for longer, it is likely to cause epigenetic changes that adversely affect the body.
Researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry have come to the bottom of this by comparing data from broad populations with those of patients.
This allowed them to replicate their results in the clinical setting. In addition, they reviewed their findings in the animal model, it said in a statement.
The results were recently published in the journal "Neuropsychopharmacology".
Increase in DNA methylation
The first indication was provided by the KORA F4 study of 1,522 adults aged 32-72 years from Augsburg and the two neighboring counties.
Researchers randomly sampled individuals with and without anxiety disorder to learn more about so-called DNA methylation. DNA methylation is part of epigenetics, an important mediator between genes and the environment.
In people suffering from anxiety symptoms, the scientists found an increase in DNA methylation of the ASB1 gene by almost 50 percent.
The ASB1 gene can trigger the formation of cells in various tissues, including blood and brain. This means that this gene plays an important role not only in the nervous system but also in the immune system.
Dr. Rebecca Emeny conducted this study with colleagues within the Mental Health working group under the direction of Prof. Karl-Heinz Ladwig, Institute for Epidemiology II (EPI II) at Helmholtz Zentrum München (HMGU).
Further development of diagnosis, therapy and prevention
The second and third part of the project was led by Prof. Elisabeth Binder, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry (MPI). The population-based results suggested epigenetic effects for the regulation of the stress-sensitive ASB1 gene in severe anxiety.
Evidence was provided by a study of patients with anxiety disorders at the MPI Psychiatry (131 patients who were without medication and 169 subjects): The altered regulation of stress and anxiety by the ASB1 gene was also found in the clinical setting.
These results translated Elisabeth Binder and her team back into an animal model of fear. In mice, she was able to demonstrate the importance of the ASB1 gene for the regulation of stress and anxiety.
That stress and anxiety are associated with epigenetic changes that affect not only the brain but also the immune system could be an important starting point for furthering the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of this common mental illness. (Ad)