How to resist cases of cold and cold?

How to resist cases of cold and cold?

With the arrival of winter, viruses begin to spread to the respiratory system, while factors that promote infection among them emerge, for example, the large number of gatherings inside closed places where viruses live better, since the indoor air is dry. But it was not certain whether low temperatures weaken the human immune system, and if this is the case, how is this done.

A study published Tuesday in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology explores a new way the body attacks viruses and works better when it's warm.

Mansour Amiji, a professor at Northeastern University, who co-authored the study, told AFP that these discoveries may help develop new treatments for colds and other viruses.

The research work proceeded from a previous study conducted by Amiji in 2018, which found that nasal cells release extracellular vesicles, a group of small molecules that attack bacteria when air is inhaled.

“The best analogy for this process is a hornet's nest,” Ameji points out. Like wasps that defend their nest in the event of an attack, sacs fly out of the cell in groups, then attach to bacteria and kill them.

The researchers asked themselves two questions: Is the secretion of extracellular vesicles also recorded in the presence of a virus? And if so, is its response affected by temperature?
In their tests, scientists used the mucous membrane of the noses of volunteers (who were undergoing surgery to remove polyps) and a substance in which a viral infection multiplied.
The result was a good number of extracellular vesicles secreted to attack viruses.

"The First Convincing Interpretation"

To answer the second question, the mucous membranes of the noses were divided into two groups, which were subjected to development in a laboratory, the first at 37 degrees Celsius, while the second at 32 degrees Celsius.

The two temperatures were chosen based on tests showing that the temperature inside the nose drops by about 5°C when the outside air temperature drops from 23°C to 4°C.

Under conditions of normal body temperature, the extracellular vesicles were able to fight viruses well, by providing them with "decoys" to which the viruses latch on, rather than the cell receptors they would normally target.

But with lower temperatures, fewer vesicles were secreted outside the cell and were less effective against the viruses they tested, which are two types of rhinoviruses and a coronavirus (non-Covid), which is common during the winter.

Benjamin Blair, co-author of the study and surgeon at Harvard Medical School, says, “No very convincing reason has been recorded to explain the clear increase in viral infections during the colder months,” noting that the results of the study represent “the first convincing quantitative and biological explanation that is being reached.” .

Mansour Ameji notes that the results of the study may lead to the development of treatments to stimulate the natural production of extracellular vesicles, with the aim of better fighting colds and even influenza and Covid-19, adding, “This area of ​​research interests us very much, and we will certainly continue to work on it.”