Secrets of Your Cells: Discovering Your Body's Inner Intelligence (8 page)

Figure 2.3
Red blood cell types

Later, modern medicine took advantage of a different set of identification markers, this time found on white blood cells, to make progress in organ transplantation. A person needing a kidney, for example, must receive one that has closely matched ID markers, determined by examining the white blood cells of both the donor and the person who will receive the organ. If the ID markings are very different, the donated kidney will be recognized as foreign and thus a threat (and sometimes cells of the donated organ will react against the new host); the immune system will attack the tissue and the transplant will be rejected. These ID markers are called human leukocyte histocompatibility antigens (HLAs).
¹
There is an array of different antigen markers on a cell. Of the more than three thousand HLA markers, only six appear to be most important for organ, bone marrow, and stem cell transplants. All ID markers are considered to be antigens.

DEFINITION

Antigen:
Any substance that triggers a specific immune response. Antigens are usually protein molecules.

HLA Markers of Identity

Of course, these differences on our cell surfaces did not evolve in order to make blood transfusions or organ transplants possible. The biological role of the HLA codes, in contrast to their applied clinical use, is to provide the immune cells with self-protection. The different HLA markers reflect a range of immune responsiveness; some HLA markers indicate highly reactive cells, while others are slower to respond. Since all cells reveal markings of the “self,” immune cells are trained early on—in utero—not to react against the self. Those that do are eliminated. Unfortunately, some self-destructive cells escape detection and later in life can lead to autoimmune diseases. Also,
over a lifetime, the ability of cells to discriminate self from other may deteriorate. Now HLA testing is beginning to offer even more clinical benefits as it uncovers autoimmune tendencies and human responses to vaccines or drugs.

DEFINITION

Autoimmune disease:
A disease in which the immune system mistakenly recognizes part of a cell or a specific molecule as dangerous and attempts to eliminate the “not self.”

Of the more than a hundred different autoimmune diseases, 75 percent occur in women. And they have become the third most predominant set of diseases in the United States after heart disease and cancer.
²
Examples of common autoimmune diseases are type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, Graves’ disease, and lupus.

REFLECTION

When have I lost the ability to discriminate between people, places, or behaviors that are well matched to me and those that are not?

Failures of Self-Recognition

In autoimmune diseases, the recognition of “self” is compromised: our own cell or protein molecule is no longer identified as ours—it has become the enemy. Certain HLA patterns signify the likelihood of developing an autoimmune disease and indicate hyperactive immune cells.

In addition to mistakenly recognizing the self as other, in some autoimmune disorders, this inappropriate response fails to be suppressed; thus, autoimmune diseases can represent an error in both recognition and regulation. Across the many different autoimmune diseases, mechanisms of failed recognition vary. Some tissues or proteins lose or change
their ID markings and are now seen as “not self”—their identity has been hijacked. In other situations, it’s a case of mistaken identity. The immune cells make an error and misinterpret self markings as if they are those of a foreign intruder.
³

When immune cells recognize any cell or substance as a dangerous “other,” they attack and destroy it. An example of this occurs in multiple sclerosis (MS), where a protein of the myelin sheath that protects the spinal cord is mistakenly recognized as foreign and attacked; over decades, the nervous system will be slowly destroyed.
⁴

While it seems that autoimmune diseases are reaching epidemic proportions, this may be in part the result of our increased ability to recognize autoimmunity. Thus, in medicine, cell identity is a vital area of study. In time, scientists may be able to help cells regain their correct identity or eliminate those that have lost their ability to know the difference; then we will be able to reverse the current trend of increased autoimmune disease.

Parallels in Consciousness

Self-recognition by the cell has parallels in the psyche. Dr. Jeanne Achterberg, a pioneer in psychoneuroimmunology and imagery, has encouraged individuals with autoimmune diseases to ask themselves such questions as “How have I lost myself?” and “How do I need to recognize myself?” The implication is not that the person’s sense of self or thinking patterns
created
the disease; rather, considering these questions can add another dimension to healing. We don’t need a diagnosis of an autoimmune illness to feel that, at some time in our lives or perhaps multiple times, we’ve failed to recognize our true selves.

The Scent of Self

We inherit the genetic programs for our cellular HLA identity markers from our parents. These markers not only indicate the quality of
immune responsiveness, they also provide an unexpected distinguishing characteristic reaching beyond the invisible microscopic “self.”

Picture a bloodhound looking for a lost child based on the scent lurking on the child’s blanket. The dog is actually detecting “cell droppings” that make up the child’s unique smell. Our cells’ HLA ID markers are shed into our sweat, urine, and saliva, producing a unique aroma. So powerful is this identifier that within the first twenty-four hours of life, newborn babies can distinguish their mothers from other women based on smell.
⁵

We adults can smell differences too, subtle though they may be. Fascinating research originating in Switzerland demonstrated that our sexual attraction to another may be traced in part to the aromatic trails our cells exude. First, scientists observed that mice that looked identical only mated with mice of a different genetic strain. How could one mouse know another mouse’s genetics, the scientists wondered—by the other mouse’s smell? Extensive research using an “electronic nose” to discriminate the volatile components in mouse urine indicated that urine from different genetic strains showed different odor types, and this was reflected in mouse mating behavior.

Based on these animal studies, in 1995 Swiss biologist Claus Wedekind explored the theory that HLA differences were connected to sexual attraction between men and women. Male college students were given new white T-shirts to wear for two days. During this time, they were not allowed to use deodorant, aftershave, or scented soaps. Afterward, the shirts were placed into small cardboard boxes, and female students were then asked to smell each shirt and rate it: pleasant or unpleasant, from a “sexy guy” or someone who was not sexually appealing. They did not see the guy. The results showed that when a woman indicated the smell was pleasant, her HLA markers differed significantly from those of the man whose shirt she liked, while the shirts she deemed unpleasant smelling had been worn by men with similar HLA markers. Good smell equaled different markers.
⁶

This makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. Remember that HLA ID markers indicate a range of immune abilities and immune responsiveness. If we mate with someone who has very different self markers from ours, our offspring will inherit a more diverse immune capability than if we pair up with someone having similar markers. Interestingly, the researchers found that a woman’s ability to discern these differences is lost when she takes birth control pills.
⁷

A number of years ago, when I was teaching this correlation between attraction and smell, I heard remarkable personal stories that further supported the conclusions from this research. One woman decided to get pregnant to see if a child would help her troubled marriage. Once off her birth control pills, which she had taken since before getting married, she found her husband’s smell offensive. So strong was her revulsion that she decided to end the marriage—and, of course, she believed something was wrong with her to react in this way. Hearing the underlying biological story—that her birth control pills had blunted her perception of the couple’s cellular, “smellular” differences—helped her understand that final trigger for divorce. While there had been plenty of conflict in the marriage already, the story her nose told her supplied the deciding factor.