Category: Flu

Japanese turnip may stop the flu

On By A.P.In exopolysaccharides, Flu, Food, Health, influenza, Japan, KAGOME, Lactobacillus brevis, Letters in Applied Microbiology, Naoko Waki, Science, suguki, superfoodLeave a comment

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Scientists have discovered that bacteria found in a traditional Japanese pickle can prevent flu. Could this be the next superfood?

The research, which assesses the immune-boosting powers of Lactobacillus brevis from Suguki – a pickled turnip, popular in Japan – in mice that have been exposed to a flu virus, is published today (06 November) in the SfAM journal, Letters in Applied Microbiology.

Lead researcher, Ms Naoko Waki of KAGOME CO., LTD. in Japan said: “Our results show that when a particular strain of Lactobacillus brevis is eaten by mice, it has protective effects against influenza virus infection.”

Suguki enthusiasts have often cited its protective powers but it is not known yet whether the same effects will be seen in humans. Human clinical trials using a probiotic drink containing Lactobacillus brevis KB290 bacteria are underway and scientists are hopeful that, given a suitable quantity of bacteria, foods containing them may turn out to be the next superfood.

What it is about the bacteria that gives them this amazing property is not known, but it is remarkably tolerant to stomach juices, which are too acidic for many bacteria. This is largely due to a protective layer of sugars called exopolysaccharides.

“We know that exopolysaccharides have immune boosting effects in other similar bacteria, so we wonder if the exopolysaccharides of KB290 are responsible for the effects we see,” said Ms Waki. Further studies will be undertaken to investigate this.

The effect of the bacteria is to increase the production of immune system molecules in the body – IFN-α and flu-specific antibodies – and to enhance activity to eradicate virus infected cells. In this study these effects were sufficient to prevent infection by the H1N1 flu and the scientists think that there could also be protection against other viral infections, including the deadly H7N9 flu, which has recently emerged in China.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-11/w-jsp110413.php

Man Flu

On By A.P.In Flu, influenza, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Mark Davis, Medicine, PNAS, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, testosteroneLeave a comment

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New study suggests that men may actually suffer more when they have influenza because high levels of testosterone can weaken immune response.

For years women have cried “man flu” when men make a fuss over a few sniffles.

But a new study suggests that men may actually suffer more when they are struck down with flu – because high levels of testosterone can weaken their immune response.

The study by Stanford University School of Medicine, examined the reactions of men and women to vaccination against flu.

It found women generally had a stronger antibody response to the jab than men, giving them better protection against the virus.

Men with lower testosterone levels also had a better immune response, more or less equivalent to that of women.

It has long been suggested that men might be more susceptible to bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infection than women are.

The study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found women had higher blood levels of signaling proteins that immune cells pass back and forth, when the body is under threat.

Previous research has found that testosterone has anti-inflammatory properties, suggesting a possible interaction between the male sex hormone and immune response.

Professor of microbiology and immunology Mark Davis said: “This is the first study to show an explicit correlation between testosterone levels, gene expression and immune responsiveness in humans.

“It could be food for thought to all the testosterone-supplement takers out there.”

Scientists said they were left perplexed as why evolution would designed a hormone that enhances classic male sexual characteristics – such as muscle strength, beard growth and risk-taking propensity – yet left them with a weaker immune system.

Previous studies have found that while women may accuse men of exaggerating when they have flu, females who are more likely to admit to having sniffles and sneezes.

The research, carried out by London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine last winter, shows that women are are 16 per cent more likely to say they are ill.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10536083/Man-flu-the-truth-that-women-dont-want-to-hear.html

Bird Flu Studies to Remain Secret to Safeguard Against Human Pandemic

On By A.P.In Flu, ScienceLeave a comment

 

Two studies showing how scientists mutated the H5N1 bird flu virus into a form that could cause a deadly human pandemic will be published only after experts fully assess the risks, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

The WHO called the meeting to break a deadlock between scientists who have studied the mutations needed to make H5N1 bird flu transmit between mammals, and the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB), which wanted the work censored before it was published in scientific journals.

Biosecurity experts fear mutated forms of the virus that research teams in The Netherlands and the United States independently created could escape or fall into the wrong hands and be used to spark a pandemic worse than the 1918-19 outbreak of Spanish flu that killed up to 40 million people.

The WHO said experts at the meeting included lead researchers of the two studies, scientific journals interested in publishing the research, funders of the research, countries who provided the viruses, bioethicists and directors from several WHO-linked laboratories specializing in influenza.

The H5N1 virus, first detected in Hong Kong in 1997, is entrenched among poultry in many countries, mainly in Asia, but so far remains in a form that is hard for humans to catch.

It is known to have infected nearly 600 people worldwide since 2003, killing half of them, a far higher death rate than the H1N1 swine flu which caused a flu pandemic in 2009/2010.

Last year two teams of scientists – one led by Ron Fouchier at Erasmus Medical Center and another led by Yoshihiro Kawaoka at the University of Wisconsin – said they had found that just a handful of mutations would allow H5N1 to spread like ordinary flu between mammals, and remain as deadly as it is now.

This type of research is seen as vital for scientists to be able to develop vaccines, diagnostic tests and anti-viral drugs that could be deployed in the event of an H5N1 pandemic.

In December, the NSABB asked two leading scientific journals, Nature and Science, to withhold details of the research for fear it could be used by bioterrorists.

They said a potentially deadlier form of bird flu poses one of the gravest known threats to humans and justified the unprecedented call to censor the research.

The WHO voiced concern, and flu researchers from around the world declared a 60-day moratorium on Jan. 20 on “any research involving highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses” that produce easily contagious forms.

Fouchier, who took part in the two-day meeting at the WHO which ended on Friday, said the consensus of experts and officials there was “that in the interest of public health, the full paper should be published” at some future date.

In its current form, people can contract H5N1 only through close contact with ducks, chickens, or other birds that carry it, and not from infected individuals.

But H5N1 can acquire mutations that allow it to live in the upper respiratory tract rather than the lower, and the Dutch and U.S. researchers found a way to make it travel via airborne droplets between infected ferrets. Flu viruses are thought to behave similarly in the animals and in people.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46432410/ns/health-cold_and_flu/

Is a Universal Flu Vaccine on the Horizon?

On By A.P.In FluLeave a comment

Dr. Francis Collins told USA Today that he’s “guardedly optimistic” a universal flu vaccine would be made available within five years.

A few years ago, he said, such a vaccine seemed “completely out of reach.” The flu virus is always mutating, rendering a vaccine from the previous year’s strain obsolete. But recently scientists pinpointed parts of the virus that don’t change – so if a vaccine targets that portion of the virus it should target all strains, Collins said.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504763_162-20084289-10391704.html