Intestine Immune Cells Use Sugar As Source of Energy

A new study recently found that white blood cells residing in the intestines, a specific group of immune cells known as "tissue-resident lymphocytes," use sugar as a source of energy and have a faster metabolism than lymphocytes circulate in the blood.

Group leader Marc Veldhoen leads this new study from the Institute de Medicina Molecular Joao Lobo Antunes and Associate Professor at the Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa, a EurekAlert! report specified,

Findings of the research, supported by the "la Caixa" Foundation, reveal that during infections, the local availability of sugar in the gut can be helpful for the immune response and might have an effect on an infection's faster resolution by the host, underscoring the essentiality of having a balanced diet for a healthy immune response.

Essentially, Lymphocytes are known for circulating through the body in blood vessels, functioning as a surveillance system, although there is a specialized group of lymphocytes residing permanently in tissues. To properly function, cells must adjust to their environment.

'Lymphocytes'

In this research published in the journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the authors discovered that a specific group of lymphocytes residing in the intestinal wall adapts their metabolism to this tissue.

Veldhoen, the study's leader, explained that circulating lymphocytes spend most of their lifetime in the lymph nodes where there is high energy availability. "It is as if the lymph nodes are filled with lunch boxes," he elaborated.

He also said that such cells could be filled permanently with energy and even grab a box that would go when they leave the lymph nodes to circulate throughout the body.

Nonetheless, the lymphocytes residing in the tissue do not have the same energy available. Such cells are constantly in a semi-activation condition, ready to respond to challenges like infections.

Role Glucose Plays

As specified in a similar Bioengineer.org report, Veldhoen also said they discovered that resident lymphocytes could adjust to their environment in the gut and control their activity depending on glucose availability.

According to Vanessa Morais, the group leader at iMM and a collaborator in the study, glucose is quickly taken by the cells to produce lactate or pyruvate, molecules that generate energy. In the gut, the resident lymphocytes can generate energy quicker than circulating lymphocytes.

The study used a model of gut infection in mice to test if glucose plays a role in the immune response to infection.

The team also found that "in mice infected with an intestinal pathogen, the local availability of glucose can identify the activation of the resident lymphocytes and to a more rapid clearance of infection, Spela Konjar, the first author of the study, said.

Such findings have revealed that resident lymphocytes are adjusted to their environment, which is used to control the response to infection.

The impact of the local availability of glucose now found specifies that diet can impact the gut immune cells, highlighting the essentiality of having a balanced diet for the immune system.

Related information about the small intestine having a sweet tooth is shown on Science X's YouTube video below:

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