‘ Immune system can affect social behaviour’
Boston: In a startling discovery, scientists have found that immune system can directly affect, and even change, social behaviour, a finding that may have great implications for neurological diseases such as autism- spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.
“Our findings contribute to a deeper understanding of social dysfunction in neurological disorders, such as autism and schizophrenia, and may open new avenues for therapeutic approaches,” said Vladimir Litvak, assistant professor at University of Massachusetts Medical School ( UMMS).
Litvak and Yang Xu, a PhD student at UMMS, developed and employed a novel systems- biology approach to study the complex dialogue between immune signalling and brain function in health and disease.
“Using this approach, we predicated an unexpected role for interferon gamma ( IFN- gamma), an important cytokine secreted by T lymphocytes, in promoting social brain functions,” Litvak said. Xu defined canonical immune signalling signatures and analysed for their presence in thousands of publicly available brain transcriptome data- sets. These studies uncovered a hidden connection between T- cell mediated immune signalling and social brain function.
Researchers found that various organisms, including rodents, fish and flies, elevate IFN- gamma signalling in social contexts.
These findings suggest that the IFN- gamma signalling pathway may mediate a co- evolutionary link between social behaviour and an efficient anti pathogen response that might be critical for herd immunity.