The enteric nervous system relays psychological stress to intestinal inflammation, 2023, Schneider et al

In mice.

Highlights

• Psychological stress leads to monocyte-mediated exacerbation of gut inflammation
• Chronic glucocorticoid signaling drives the effect of stress on IBD
• Stress induces inflammatory enteric glia that promote monocyte recruitment via CSF1
• Stress provokes transcriptional immaturity in enteric neurons and dysmotility

Summary

Mental health profoundly impacts inflammatory responses in the body. This is particularly apparent in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), in which psychological stress is associated with exacerbated disease flares. Here, we discover a critical role for the enteric nervous system (ENS) in mediating the aggravating effect of chronic stress on intestinal inflammation. We find that chronically elevated levels of glucocorticoids drive the generation of an inflammatory subset of enteric glia that promotes monocyte- and TNF-mediated inflammation via CSF1. Additionally, glucocorticoids cause transcriptional immaturity in enteric neurons, acetylcholine deficiency, and dysmotility via TGF-β2. We verify the connection between the psychological state, intestinal inflammation, and dysmotility in three cohorts of IBD patients. Together, these findings offer a mechanistic explanation for the impact of the brain on peripheral inflammation, define the ENS as a relay between psychological stress and gut inflammation, and suggest that stress management could serve as a valuable component of IBD care.

Open access, https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)00475-0

 

I cannot agree that physical torture is any analogous to stress, as vaguely defined as it typically is, let alone what typically gets framed as stress. In most cases, "stress" simply means "I don't like this" and there's nothing wrong with that. People should want better for themselves, so do small animals. If you physically torture them, they will want to get as far away from you as possible.

This is their "stress model":

If anyone experiences this type of abuse in daily life, I think they have far more serious problems than how stress affects their chemically-induced IBD (using dextran sodium sulfate).

The reference they use for this model categorizes this type as physical:

I agree that if you physically torture small animals after making them ill, they will likely get more ill and generally fare terribly. And from the paper, if you torture them before you make them ill, they may be more ill because of the, you know, physical torture.

But why would someone want to do that? Let alone pretend that this has anything to do with what is typically used as an excuse for a psychosocial cause. And what would "stress management" even look like for mice? Typically it's all recreational fun time. So I guess they'd stop physically torturing them, make them socialize in a playful environment? This is simply not serious.