How Brucellosis -- Which Can Jump from Animals to Humans -- Impacts the Brain
Published:28 Sep.2023 Source:University of Missouri-Columbia
Brucellosis is a disease, caused by the members of bacterial Brucella family, that mainly infects cattle, goats and sheep, leading to pregnancy loss, which has caused billions of dollars in economic losses for livestock producers worldwide. The disease can also jump from animals to humans, mainly through consumption of unpasteurized dairy products or inhaling the spores from the tissues of infected animals.
While the disease can cause arthritis, inflammation of the heart and flu-like symptoms in humans, the bacteria can also enter the brain and cause neurobrucellosis, which can lead to long-term neurological complications, headaches, nausea, disorientation, swelling of the brain and sometimes death. Now, a new study at the University of Missouri has highlighted the protective power of both innate lymphoid cells and specific signaling proteins, known as interferons, in reducing the harmful neurological effects of Brucella.
Moley is a veterinary scientist in the Comparative Medicine Program, and his research can potentially inform the work of other researchers by better understanding how the disease impacts the brain. Given the new knowledge of the critical protective role played by innate lymphoid cells and interferons, the study could lead to more targeted therapy interventions for humans worldwide suffering from neurobrucellosis or more targeted diagnostic approaches for identifying the disease before neurological symptoms appear or worsen.