Exacerbation of autoimmune neuroinflammation by dietary sodium is genetically controlled and sex specific.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating autoimmune neuroinflammatory disease influenced by genetics and the environment. MS incidence in female subjects has approximately tripled in the last century, suggesting a sex-specific environmental influence. Recent animal and human studies have implicated dietary sodium as a risk factor in MS, whereby high sodium augmented the generation of T helper (Th) 17 cells and exacerbated experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), the principal model of MS. However, whether dietary sodium interacts with sex or genetics remains unknown. Here, we show that high dietary sodium exacerbates EAE in a strain- and sex-specific fashion. In C57BL6/J mice, exposure to a high-salt diet exacerbated disease in both sexes, while in SJL/JCrHsd mice, it did so only in females. In further support of a genetic component, we found that sodium failed to modify EAE course in C57BL6/J mice carrying a 129/Sv-derived interval on chromosome 17. Furthermore, we found that the high-sodium diet did not augment Th17 or Th1 responses, but it did result in increased blood-brain barrier permeability and brain pathology. Our results demonstrate that the effects of dietary sodium on autoimmune neuroinflammation are sex specific, genetically controlled, and CNS mediated.
*Department of Medicine, Immunobiology Program, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA; and Department of Pathology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA dkrement@uvm.edu c.teuscher@uvm.edu.
Dimitry N
DN
Krementsov
*Department of Medicine, Immunobiology Program, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA; and Department of Pathology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.
Laure K
LK
Case
*Department of Medicine, Immunobiology Program, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA; and Department of Pathology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.
William F
WF
Hickey
*Department of Medicine, Immunobiology Program, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, USA; and Department of Pathology, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA dkrement@uvm.edu c.teuscher@uvm.edu.
Cory
C
Teuscher
D000818:Animals; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000378:metabolism; D002886:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 17 / Q000276:immunology; D004681:Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D012982:Sodium, Dietary / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
D012982:Sodium, Dietary
environment; experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; mouse model; multiple sclerosis; risk factor