Rheumatoid arthritis finding may lead to new inflammation blockers (The amino acid “aspartate”)

Medical XPress / Mayo Clinic / Nature Immunology ^ | Nov. 22, 2021 | Sara Tiner / Bowen Wu et al

[ConservativeMind]

Mayo Clinic researchers have linked the T cell dysfunction seen in rheumatoid arthritis with a metabolic deficiency.

In "helper" T cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis, low levels of a specific amino acid lead to cellular miscommunication, but supplying it may provide a new therapeutic strategy for autoimmune disease. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disorder characterized by chronic inflammation, including high levels of a cytokine called tumor necrosis factor, or TNF. This protein is used to recruit immune system resources and can cause cell death (necrosis).

Based on data collected over more than 20 years of work, Dr. Weyand's team began investigating helper T cells.

"Unfortunately, these T cells can also memorize their own mistakes, and in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, they lead the attack against the joints," says Dr. Weyand.

Researchers found that T cells are a significant source of tumor necrosis factor. They turned to cell and mouse models to determine why and eventually discovered that the T cells had a defect in their mitochondria.

"We made the observations that T cells from patients with rheumatoid arthritis have low-performing mitochondria, and by screening the cells for their mitochondrial products, we found that the rheumatoid arthritis T cells lack the amino acid aspartate," explains Dr. Weyand.

Through a series of experiments, the researchers discovered that aspartate acts as a messenger between the mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum. When mitochondria decrease aspartate communication with the endoplasmic reticulum, that organelle assumes the mitochondria are under stress. The endoplasmic reticulum begins to expand and overproduce proteins in response, one of which is tumor necrosis factor.

"In essence, TNF hyperproduction is a result of a metabolic defect," explains Dr. Weyand. "Misnourished T cells dedicate themselves to TNF production and become highly efficient pro-inflammatory effector cells."

[ConservativeMind]

Top sources of the amino acid aspartate include: soy protein isolate, egg whites, peanut flour, seaweed/spirulina, almonds, lentils, chickpeas, shrimp, salami, salmon, beef, and chicken.

[QuigleyDU]

Hope, before I die.

[Rio]

Salami? That’s unusual.

[Ranxerox]

Salami? That’s unusual.

Agree - you'd think it was an ingredient in salami that would be mentioned.