(Press-News.org) A recent study published in the July issue of the Journal of Immunology helps explain why some humans contract bacterial super-infections like pneumonia with influenza. The research was led by Le Bonheur Pediatrician-in-Chief Jon McCullers, MD – an infectious disease specialist who is also chair of the Department of Pediatrics for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and adjunct faculty at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
"It's been known that the influenza virus does something to suppress host immune function, which can facilitate development of deadly secondary bacterial pneumonias," said McCullers. "But we haven't known what that was or why it happens."
McCullers' research – conducted at his National Institutes of Health-funded laboratory at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital by UTHSC graduate student Hazem Ghoneim, a PhD candidate -- used advanced techniques to differentiate types of alveolar macrophages found in the lungs and airways. Researchers found that of the three types identified, only one is truly capable of fending off secondary bacterial infection. This population of macrophages, labeled the resident alveolar macrophages, is depleted during a flu infection.
"We found that influenza is specifically killing these true alveolar macrophages," said McCullers. "The window of time someone is susceptible to secondary infections corresponds with the time it takes for the other two types of alveolar macrophages to differentiate so they are then able to fight off the infection."
McCullers says his study is a step toward developing strategies for treatment.
"This discovery provides a roadmap for developing immunotherapies that can supplement the natural defenses of our body when they are at their weakest. Influenza and pneumonia are the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S., and we desperately need research such as this to improve our armamentarium," said McCullers.
###
About Le Bonheur Children's Hospital
Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., treats more than 250,000 children each year in a 255-bed hospital that features state-of-the-art technology and family-friendly resources. Nationally recognized, Le Bonheur is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as a Best Children's Hospital. Serving as a primary teaching affiliate for the University Tennessee Health Science Center, the hospital trains more pediatricians than any other hospital in the state. For more information, please call (901) 287-6030 or visit lebonheur.org. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/lebonheurchild or like us at Facebook at facebook.com/lebonheurchildrens.
About the University of Tennessee Health Science Center
As Tennessee's only public, statewide academic health system, the mission of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is to bring the benefits of the health sciences to the achievement and maintenance of human health, with a focus on the citizens of Tennessee and the region, by pursuing an integrated program of education, research, clinical care, and public service. Founded in 1911, during its more than 100 years, UT Health Science Center has educated and trained more than 56,000 health care professionals in academic settings and health care facilities across the state. For more information, visit http://www.uthsc.edu.
Study finds depletion of alveolar macrophages linked to bacterial super-infections
2013-07-23
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Rancho Fire in California
2013-07-23
The Rancho Fire started 2 miles north of Lebec, CA on July 19, 2013 at approximately noon. While the fire originally started on Kern County jurisdiction, by the evening, it had burned into Los Padres National Forest. The fire has burned 722 acres and is 92% contained. Containment of the fire is expected on July 24, 2013. There are currently 337 resources assigned to the Rancho Fire, including 14 crews, 10 engines, 1 water tender and 2 helicopters. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution ...
Studies suggest new key to 'switching off' hypertension
2013-07-23
A team of University of California, San Diego researchers has designed new compounds that mimic those naturally used by the body to regulate blood pressure. The most promising of them may literally be the key to controlling hypertension, switching off the signaling pathways that lead to the deadly condition.
Published online this month in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry, the scientists studied the properties of the peptide called catestatin that binds nicotinic acetylcholine receptors found in the nervous system, and developed a pharmacophore model of its active centers. ...
New research shows weight a factor in graduate school admissions
2013-07-23
BOWLING GREEN, O.—Want to go to graduate school? Your weight could determine whether or not you receive an offer of admission.
The study by Bowling Green State University Ph.D. candidates Jacob Burmeister and Allison Kiefner; Dr. Dara Musher-Eizenman, a professor of developmental psychology; and Dr. Robert Carels, an associate professor of clinical psychology, appeared in the May edition of the journal Obesity.
"Weight Bias in Graduate School Admissions" found that applicants with a high body mass index (BMI) were less likely to be offered admission after an in-person ...
Novel 'top-down' mechanism repatterns developing brain regions
2013-07-23
LA JOLLA - Dennis O'Leary of the Salk Institute was the first scientist to show that the basic functional architecture of the cortex, the largest part of the human brain, was genetically determined during development. But as it so often does in science, answering one question opened up many others. O'Leary wondered what if the layout of the cortex wasn't fixed? What would happen if it were changed?
In the August issue of Nature Neuroscience, O'Leary, holder of the Vincent J. Coates Chair of Molecular Neurobiology at Salk, and Andreas Zembrzycki, a postdoctoral researcher ...
Vaccinating boys plays key role in HPV prevention
2013-07-23
TORONTO, ON – Improving vaccination rates against the human papillomavirus (HPV) in boys is key to protecting both men and women, says new research from University of Toronto Professor Peter A. Newman from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work.
HPV has been linked to anal, penile and certain types of throat cancers in men. Since the virus is also responsible for various cancers in women, vaccinating boys aged 11 to 21 will play a crucial role in reducing cancer rates across the sexes.
"HPV is the single most common sexually transmitted infection," says Newman, ...
Gallo Center scientists identify key brain circuits that control compulsive drinking in rats
2013-07-23
A research team led by scientists from the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco has identified circuitry in the brain that drives compulsive drinking in rats, and likely plays a similar role in humans.
The scientists found they could reduce compulsive drinking in rats by inhibiting key neural pathways that run between the prefrontal cortex, which is involved with higher functions such as critical thinking and risk assessment, and the nucleus accumbens, a critical area for reward and motivation.
The authors noted ...
Climate forecasts shown to warn of crop failures
2013-07-23
Climate data can help predict some crop failures several months before harvest, according to a new study from an international team, including a research scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
Scientists found that in about one-third of global cropland, temperature and soil moisture have strong relationships to the yield of wheat and rice at harvest. For those two key crops, a computer model could predict crop failures three months in advance for about 20 percent of global cropland, according to the study, published July 21 in Nature Climate ...
Evolution picks up hitchhikers
2013-07-23
In a twist on "survival of the fittest," researchers have discovered that evolution is driven not by a single beneficial mutation but rather by a group of mutations, including ones called "genetic hitchhikers" that are simply along for the ride. These hitchhikers are mutations that do not appear to have a role in contributing to an organism's fitness and therefore its evolution, yet may play an important role down the road.
Researchers from Princeton University found in a study of 1,000 generations of adaptation in 40 yeast populations that about five to seven specific ...
Former prisoners more likely to be hospitalized for preventable conditions
2013-07-23
Complications of diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and other preventable conditions are more likely to land former prisoners in the hospital, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the July 22 online issue of JAMA Internal Medicine.
According to the study, about one in 70 former inmates are hospitalized for an acute condition within seven days of release, and one in 12 by 90 days, a rate much higher than the general population.
"The period immediately after release has a high risk of an event requiring hospitalization, indicating a potential target for improving ...
First high-resolution national carbon map -- Panama
2013-07-23
Washington, DC—A team of researchers has for the first time mapped the above ground carbon density of an entire country in high fidelity. They integrated field data with satellite imagery and high-resolution airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data to map the vegetation and to quantify carbon stocks throughout the Republic of Panama. The results are the first maps that report carbon stocks locally in areas as small as a hectare (2.5 acres) and yet cover millions of hectares in a short time. The system has the lowest demonstrated uncertainty of any carbon-counting ...