Caffeine may prevent and treat multiple sclerosis

Beijing, April 10 (Xinhua) US researchers recently found that caffeine can prevent mice from suffering from diseases similar to human multiple sclerosis. This discovery will help to develop new methods for the prevention and treatment of multiple sclerosis.

Jeffrey Mills of Cornell University and others found that mice that consumed a certain amount of caffeine a day (equivalent to 6 to 8 cups of coffee a day) were less likely to develop experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

This may be the result of caffeine preventing immune cells from entering the central nervous system of mice.

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis is an animal manifestation of human multiple sclerosis, which is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks its own body, which can damage the brain and spinal cord nerves.

Previous studies have shown that adenosine plays an important role in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis, so it may be responsible for helping immune cells enter the central nervous system. Adenosine exists widely in the human body and plays an important role in biochemistry, such as transferring energy, promoting sleep and so on.

Adenosine needs to bind to adenosine receptors to affect the central nervous system, and caffeine stimulates the central nervous system largely because it binds to adenosine receptors, the researchers said in a statement. so caffeine can be used to prevent adenosine from working.

Studies in mice have also confirmed that mice are less likely to develop experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis without adenosine receptors and CD73 enzymes necessary for extracellular synthesis of adenosine. The researchers point out that this finding and the role of caffeine will help promote research on the prevention and treatment of adenosine-based multiple sclerosis.