Salt in the diet is mainly sodium chloride (NaCl), and excessive intake of salt (NaCl) has been clearly defined as an unhealthy lifestyle, because it has a strong correlation with the high risk of chronic inflammation, cardiovascular diseases and autoimmune diseases.
Due to traditional eating habits, China people's sodium intake is more than twice that recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), and nearly half of China people aged 35 -75 suffer from hypertension. Even more surprising, statistics show that nearly 30% of fatal strokes among people under 70 years old in China can be attributed to high sodium intake.
On April 28th, 20021,researchers from Max Debrü ck Molecular Medical Center in Germany published a research paper entitled: mitochemicals, a salt transition inclusion in circulating mononuclear drugs.
This study reveals the previously unnoticed relationship between high-salt diet and mitochondria of mononuclear phagocytes. Experimental data show that high-salt diet can reduce ATP production by affecting mitochondrial respiratory chain, which may lead to long-term functional changes. These functional changes may lead to inflammatory diseases or autoimmune diseases of blood vessels or joints.
Salt is an essential nutrient for human body, and it is normal to add salt to food. So most people have not seriously considered this issue.
But in fact, we should seriously consider this problem. High-salt diet will not only lead to high blood pressure, but also seriously destroy the energy balance of immune cells, making them unable to work normally.
As early as 20 15, Professor Dominik N. Muller of Max Debruck Molecular Medical Center found that the increase of sodium concentration in blood would affect the activation and function of patrol monocytes, which are the precursor cells of macrophages, and macrophages are an important immune cell.
In order to further confirm the specific reasons of the above findings, scientists from Max Debruck Molecular Medicine Research Center, Regensburg University, VIB Inflammation Research Center, Bonn University and other research institutions cooperated.
High salt destroys the respiratory chain of cells.
The research team observed that the metabolism of immune cells exposed to high salt concentration changed rapidly, destroying the respiratory chain in just three hours, causing cells to produce less ATP and consume less oxygen.
ATP (adenosine triphosphate) is a universal fuel that provides power for all cells, and it is also the most direct energy source in organisms. ATP is produced through a series of complex biochemical reactions (called respiratory chain) in the mitochondria of the cell's "energy factory". However, high salt can inhibit respiratory chain complex II very specifically, thus affecting the production of ATP.
Insufficient ATP energy leads to abnormal maturation of monocytes. The task of phagocytes is to identify and eliminate pathogens in the body, and they can resist infection more effectively. Abnormal phagocytes will increase the risk of inflammatory diseases and autoimmune diseases.
The side effects of high salt are reversible.
The research team conducted two experiments among healthy male volunteers. A group of volunteers supplemented 6 grams of salt tablets in their daily diet for 14 days. Another group of volunteers ate high-salt Italian pizza. Then test and analyze the monocytes in their blood.
The results showed that the mitochondria of monocytes were inhibited in the blood of the volunteers in the first group who had a long-term high-salt diet, and the same happened to the volunteers who only ate a pizza.
At the same time, in order to observe the duration of this effect, the research team tested the second group of volunteers at the third and eighth hours after eating pizza, and the results showed that they had almost recovered at the eighth hour.
This shows that the activity of mitochondria will not be permanently inhibited by the occasional high-salt diet, but it cannot be ruled out that frequent high-salt diets will continue to destroy the function of mitochondria.
The great role of small ions
Very small ions such as sodium ions can effectively inhibit enzymes that play a key role in the respiratory chain. When these ions flood into mitochondria, they will regulate the core components of the electron transfer chain.
The research team said that the next task is to study whether high salt will affect other types of cells through this mechanism. Mitochondria exist not only in immune cells, but actually in every cell except mature red blood cells. In addition, muscle cells, neurons, eggs and other cells that consume a lot of energy have more mitochondria.
Generally speaking, this study shows that the harm of high-salt diet not only increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases, but also affects immune cells by inhibiting mitochondria, which may lead to inflammatory diseases or autoimmune diseases of blood vessels or joints.