| Friday, Sept. 9, 2022 This graphical abstract depicts the requirement for rapid production of specific lipids in obese mice for survival of bacterial and viral infections in the lung.
NIAID scientists studying the effects of obesity on lung disease surprisingly found that specific lipids, produced early and transiently after infection, were required for survival in two different mouse models of bacterial and viral infection. Their work also identified the mechanism that results in the different outcomes. Their study, published in the Journal of Immunology, used two groups of mice modeled for obesity. One group was exposed to Francisella tularensis bacteria, which causes tularemia. They infected the other group with SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19. Obesity affected both groups, but in opposite ways, the scientists noted. Obesity increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection, but obese mice infected with F. tularensis had decreased susceptibility. Surprisingly, it was the ability of mice to quickly produce specific lipids that contributed to survival and was not associated with early control of replication of each pathogen, obvious changes in tissue damage, or recruitment of immune cells. "Survival was associated with alterations in the responsiveness of immune lipid mediator pathways," the study states.  |
No comments:
Post a Comment