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Commentary: Structural and functional features of central nervous system lymphatic vessels

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
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19,935
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Albuquerque
James J. Bradstreet, Marco Ruggiero and Stefania Pacini

A commentary on

Structural and functional features of central nervous system lymphatic vessels

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) represent an apparent pandemic threat to child development with the current CDC data documenting ASD affecting over 2% of U.S. males of school age ([CDC] Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network Surveillance Year 2010 Principal, 2014)....

If the etiology of ASD is still mysterious, there is a growing consensus for the role of neuroinflammation in ASD pathogenesis (Fatemi et al., 2012), and the recent publication in Nature of the existence of the previously unknown meningeal lymphatic system, invites a closer evaluation of its potential significance to brain development (Louveau et al., 2015).

In 1983, Aarli speculated the fluid of the brain traveled along mysterious perivascular channels, and noted that immunological challenges could affect the integrity of the blood brain barrier (Aarli, 1983). It was then accepted that the exit pathway for immune cells trafficking through the CNS wasvia the arachnoid granulations. The new study in Nature provides us with a secondary pathway leading to deep cervical lymph nodes.

We concur with the comment (Louveau et al., 2015) that; “the presence of a functional and classical lymphatic system in the central nervous system suggests that current dogmas regarding brain tolerance and the immune privilege of the brain should be revisited.”... Continue reading here.

Professor Ruggiero continues commentary on the Facebook page: Remembering Dr. Bradstreet:
About one year earlier, we had observed that the brains of autistic children showed peculiar lesions that could be identified and classified using transcranial ultrasonography. These observations were published in a peer-reviewed journal, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience that can be retrieved in PubMed....

The presence of these lesions has been confirmed, using other methods of imaging such as MRI, by other research groups, and there is almost unanimous consensus that there are anatomical alterations in the brains of autistic children. It is also generally accepted that such anatomical alterations are correlated with the severity of the symptoms....

In this paper we write that infection or inflammation of the deep cervical nodes that drain lymph from the brain and from the mouth and throat may lead to impaired lymph drainage with consequent accumulation of extra-axial fluid in the brain that leads to disruption of the connections between neurons and glial cells.

Therefore, impaired lymphatic drainage would result in the accumulation of metabolites (toxins) in the brain and in constant inflammation of the brain and the meninges with consequent alterations of brain development and function....

Microbes in the gut DO NOT INFLUENCE the development and the function of the brain: THEY ARE CELLS of the brain just like neurons and glial cells. Microbes are AS IMPORTANT as neurons and glial cells for brain function and the microbes that you have in the intestine are the microbes that you have in the brain.
 

Asa

Senior Member
Messages
179
"...microbes that you have in the intestine are the microbes that you have in the brain.

Questions, please (to anyone). Is the above statement a basic and accepted fact? And how long roughly has this idea been around/widely accepted? (Recent years only or decades?) Just curious. Thank you.
 

Effi

Senior Member
Messages
1,496
Location
Europe
In this paper we write that infection or inflammation of the deep cervical nodes that drain lymph from the brain and from the mouth and throat may lead to impaired lymph drainage with consequent accumulation of extra-axial fluid in the brain that leads to disruption of the connections between neurons and glial cells.

Therefore, impaired lymphatic drainage would result in the accumulation of metabolites (toxins) in the brain and in constant inflammation of the brain and the meninges with consequent alterations of brain development and function....
Just a note from personal experience: I get regular manual lymphatic drainage and this is extremely helpful for me, as it decreases the intensity of my symptoms. My practitioner always says that there is a crazy amount of waste material created in my lymphatic system, and that it feels as if I constantly have an inflammation or an accute immune response. Whenever I've stopped treatment for a couple of weeks (due to the practitioner being on holidays) all my full blown symptoms return: joint pain, migraines, sluggishness, constipation, ... I think our disease process creates a lot of waste, flooding the lymphatic vessels in such a way that it's impossible to clear out, causing a wide array of symptoms (as an effect, not a cause).

There is very little known about the lymphatic system and doctors generally are completely clueless about the major benefits of this treatment. My guess is that there's gonna be a whole lot of interesting things written about this in the near future...
 

anciendaze

Senior Member
Messages
1,841
Questions, please (to anyone). Is the above statement a basic and accepted fact? And how long roughly has this idea been around/widely accepted? (Recent years only or decades?) Just curious. Thank you.
No, this is not accepted wisdom. There is now considerable reason to believe cytotoxic T-cells do cross into the brain, and reemerge through the lymphatic pathways mentioned. These are larger than typical bacteria, but it does not follow that those bacteria have free entry to the brain. Some bacteria found in postmortem examination of brains, like the infamous treponema pallidum, are capable of tricks that make it hard to keep them out if entire blood cells can get in. The whole subject needs a great deal of new research.
 

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
Just a note from personal experience: I get regular manual lymphatic drainage and this is extremely helpful for me, as it decreases the intensity of my symptoms. My practitioner always says that there is a crazy amount of waste material created in my lymphatic system, and that it feels as if I constantly have an inflammation or an accute immune response. Whenever I've stopped treatment for a couple of weeks (due to the practitioner being on holidays) all my full blown symptoms return: joint pain, migraines, sluggishness, constipation, ... I think our disease process creates a lot of waste, flooding the lymphatic vessels in such a way that it's impossible to clear out, causing a wide array of symptoms (as an effect, not a cause).

There is very little known about the lymphatic system and doctors generally are completely clueless about the major benefits of this treatment. My guess is that there's gonna be a whole lot of interesting things written about this in the near future...
It could also be that, if we are not very active, we are not moving the lymph along via skeletal muscle contraction as much as we need to.
 

Effi

Senior Member
Messages
1,496
Location
Europe
It could also be that, if we are not very active, we are not moving the lymph along via skeletal muscle contraction as much as we need to.
When I first got ill, I was still being very active, but the lymph situation was the same as it is now. So I don't think it has anything to do with immobility in my case...
 

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
When I first got ill, I was still being very active, but the lymph situation was the same as it is now. So I don't think it has anything to do with immobility in my case...
I went for a fluid deprivation test some years ago to see if I was able to concentrate urine properly (of course the medics couldn't get their heads round the fact that my ability fluctuated).

I was instructed to keep as as still as possible (for several hours), in a chair that was too large for me so that my legs didn't reach the ground. It was impossible to get comfortable. Fluid started accumulating around my middle, my clothes became tight and my back started hurting.

I was concentrating urine all right, but not via my kidneys - it appeared to be stuck in my lymphatic system and not even reaching my kidneys!
 

John Mac

Senior Member
Messages
321
Location
Liverpool UK
Just a note from personal experience: I get regular manual lymphatic drainage and this is extremely helpful for me, as it decreases the intensity of my symptoms. My practitioner always says that there is a crazy amount of waste material created in my lymphatic system, and that it feels as if I constantly have an inflammation or an accute immune response. Whenever I've stopped treatment for a couple of weeks (due to the practitioner being on holidays) all my full blown symptoms return: joint pain, migraines, sluggishness, constipation, ... I think our disease process creates a lot of waste, flooding the lymphatic vessels in such a way that it's impossible to clear out, causing a wide array of symptoms (as an effect, not a cause).

There is very little known about the lymphatic system and doctors generally are completely clueless about the major benefits of this treatment. My guess is that there's gonna be a whole lot of interesting things written about this in the near future...
Is this treatment the Perrin technique?
 

Effi

Senior Member
Messages
1,496
Location
Europe
It could also be that, if we are not very active, we are not moving the lymph along via skeletal muscle contraction as much as we need to.
I just asked my practitioner about this, and she says that the lymph system is most active when we are at rest. So it would make sense for the lymphatic system to work better when we're inactive. This still doesn't explain why there is continuously so much waste to clean up... Another mystery to add to the pile I guess... ;)
 

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
I just asked my practitioner about this, and she says that the lymph system is most active when we are at rest. So it would make sense for the lymphatic system to work better when we're inactive. This still doesn't explain why there is continuously so much waste to clean up... Another mystery to add to the pile I guess... ;)
This looks like a good page on the lymphatic system.
 

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
I just asked my practitioner about this, and she says that the lymph system is most active when we are at rest. So it would make sense for the lymphatic system to work better when we're inactive. This still doesn't explain why there is continuously so much waste to clean up... Another mystery to add to the pile I guess... ;)
It's occurred to me - what does your practitioner mean by 'most active'? There are lots of tasks performed by the lymphatic system. Maybe some are performed mostly when we are at rest and some mostly when we are active.