(Press-News.org) Researchers from the Pasteur Institute, Lille, France have shown in a mouse model that interleukin-22 protects against bacterial superinfections that can arise following influenza. Their research is published in the June 2013 issue of the Journal of Virology.
Influenza A viral infection can lead to primary pneumonia and, later on, to serious complications including secondary bacterial pneumonia and sepsis. Post-influenza bacterial superinfections that occur during seasonal epidemics and pandemics are of great concern to human health and impose a considerable socio-economic burden.
"It is therefore critical that we reach a better understanding of the causes of and potential treatments for post-influenza bacterial superinfection," says corresponding author François Trottein.
"Mouse studies have revealed that impairment of the host innate immune defense, as well as lung damage caused by the virus are cardinal features of bacterial superinfection," says Trottein. The authors tested the hypothesis that interleukin-22, an important cytokine implicated in mucosal immunity, inflammation and tissue repair, might play an important role during influenza.
The authors show that several cell types belonging to the innate immune system produce interleukin-22 soon after infection. They also demonstrate that the lack of interleukin-22 aggravates the pathogenesis that develops in the lungs and in particular exacerbates epithelial damage caused by the virus. Furthermore, endogenous interleukin-22 displays a protective role during secondary bacterial (pneumococcus) infection in the mouse system.
Although the mechanisms sustaining the protective effect of interleukin-22 are not yet fully elucidated, the authors speculate that its beneficial effect is due to its role in the maintenance of epithelial integrity.
"If it works as well in humans, the production of interleukin-22 could confer a substantial benefit on patients having flu," says Trottein.
###
A copy of the article can be found online at http://bit.ly/asmtip0513b.
(S. Ivanov, J. Renneson, F. Trottein, et al. Interleukin-22 reduces lung inflammation during influenza A virus infection and protects against secondary bacterial infection. J. Virol. June 2013; 87:12 6911-6924. Published ahead of print17 April 2013. doi:10.1128/JVI.02943-12)
The Journal of Virology is a publication of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM is the largest single life science society, composed of over 39,000 scientists and health professionals. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences as a vehicle for understanding life processes and to apply and communicate this knowledge for the improvement of health and environmental and economic well-being worldwide.
Interleukin-22 protects against post-influenza bacterial superinfection
2013-05-30
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
New agent inhibits HCV replication in mouse models -- No resistance seen
2013-05-30
Treatments against hepatitis C virus have only been partially successful. A major problem is that antivirals generate drug resistance. Now Seong-Wook Lee of Dankook University, Yongin, Republic of Korea and his collaborators have developed agents that bind to the business end of a critical protein, disabling it so successfully that no resistance has arisen. The research is published in the June 2013 issue of the Journal of Virology.
The target protein for the new agents is the NS5B replicase protein, which is the central catalytic enzyme in HCV replication. The researchers ...
Gemini Observatory captures Comet ISON hurtling toward uncertain destiny with the Sun
2013-05-30
The time-sequence images, spanning early February through May 2013, show the comet's remarkable activity despite its current great distance from the Sun and Earth. The information gleaned from the series provides vital clues as to the comet's overall behavior and potential to present a spectacular show. However, it's anyone's guess if the comet has the "right stuff" to survive its extremely close brush with the Sun at the end of November and become an early morning spectacle from Earth in early December 2013.
When Gemini obtained this time sequence, the comet ranged between ...
Gender, race, and HIV therapy: Insights from the GRACE study
2013-05-30
New Rochelle, NY, May 30, 2013—Enrollment of women in clinical trials of new anti-HIV drugs is extremely low, representing only about 15% of all treatment-experienced patients. For women of color it is even lower. Why women, and especially women of color, are so poorly represented in HIV drug trials is the focus of an important article in AIDS Patient Care and STDs, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the AIDS Patient Care and STDs website at http://www.liebertpub.com/apc.
HIV-infected individuals that ...
ACS podcast: Many people still lack access to flush toilets, adequate sanitation
2013-05-30
The latest episode in the American Chemical Society's (ACS') award-winning Global Challenges/Chemistry Solutions podcast series describes research concluding that the number of people without access to flush toilets or other adequate sanitation is almost double the previous estimate.
Based on a report by Jamie Bartram, Ph.D., and colleagues in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology, the new podcast is available without charge at iTunes and from http://www.acs.org/globalchallenges.
It may be the 21st century, with all its technological marvels, but 6 out ...
New single virus detection techniques for faster disease diagnosis
2013-05-30
To test the severity of a viral infection, clinicians try to gauge how many viruses are packed into a certain volume of blood or other bodily fluid. This measurement, called viral load, helps doctors diagnose or monitor chronic viral diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. However, the standard methods used for these tests are only able to estimate the number of viruses in a given volume of fluid. Now two independent teams have developed new optics-based methods for determining the exact viral load of a sample by counting individual virus particles. These new methods are ...
Soccer training improves heart health of men with type 2 diabetes
2013-05-30
A new study from the Copenhagen Centre for Team Sport and Health at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, demonstrates that soccer training improves heart function, reduces blood pressure and elevates exercise capacity in patients with type 2 diabetes. Soccer training also reduces the need for medication.
The study, recently published in Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise, investigated the effects of soccer training, consisting of small-sided games (5v5), on 21 men with type 2 diabetes, aged 37-60 years.
Soccer training makes the heart ten years younger
"We ...
When friends create enemies
2013-05-30
PITTSBURGH—The mutual-friends feature on social networks such as Facebook, which displays users' shared friendships, might not be so "friendly."
Often revered for bringing people together, the mutual-friends feature on Facebook actually creates myriad security risks and privacy concerns according to a University of Pittsburgh study published in Computers & Security. The study demonstrates that even though users can tailor their privacy settings, hackers can still find private information through mutual-friends features.
"Oftentimes, mutual-friends features have not ...
UGA research uncovers cost of resiliency in kids
2013-05-30
Athens, Ga. – Children living in poverty who appear to succeed socially may be failing biologically. Students able to overcome the stress of growing up poor are labeled "resilient" because of their ability to overcome adversity, but University of Georgia researchers found this resiliency has health costs that last well into adulthood.
"Exposure to stress over time gets under the skin of children and adolescents, which makes them more vulnerable to disease later in life," said Gene Brody, founder and director of the UGA Center for Family Research.
Looking at a sample ...
Young people are overwhelmingly the victims of sexual assaults
2013-05-30
Sexual assault has almost as much to do with age as it does with gender, according to Penn State criminologists.
Young people -- both male and female -- are the most likely targets of rape and other sexual assaults, said Richard Felson, professor of criminology and sociology. The most frequent victims of those assaults are 15 years old, regardless of gender, or the age of the offender, he said. Older people and women rarely commit the crime, but when they do, their most frequent victims are still 15 years old.
"People tend to look at sexual assault almost exclusively ...
New York City successfully locates HIV-positive patients 'lost to follow-up'
2013-05-30
Philadelphia, Pa. (May 30, 2013) – Public health officials in New York City have launched a successful program to locate HIV-positive patients who have been "lost to follow-up" and reconnect them with treatment services, reports a study published in AIDS, official journal of the International AIDS Society. AIDS is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.
Efforts to restart antiretroviral therapy are especially important with the current emphasis on "treatment-as-prevention" for HIV, according to the study by Chi-Chi N. Udeagu, MPH, ...