Here are the most important ways to prevent pneumonia

Here are the most important ways to prevent pneumonia

Zinc has been found to be important in preventing lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis, whose natural immune cells' ability to fight bacteria has been reduced due to the genetic mutation that causes the disease. This discovery could lead to treatments that reactivate the immune system, reducing inflammation. .

An indicator of premature death

According to the New Atlas website, citing the PNAS journal, 25 years ago, cystic fibrosis was an indicator of possible early death, and while life expectancy has improved significantly since then, people with cystic fibrosis are still vulnerable to the resulting complications. About this case.

A mutation in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene causes excessive accumulation of mucus in the lungs and disorganized airway inflammation, making people with the condition vulnerable to recurrent infections. But researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia have succeeded in discovering a potential method to reduce infections in people with cystic fibrosis, which relies on zinc.

Antibiotic resistance

“People with cystic fibrosis have a very inflammatory condition in their airways and are more susceptible to bacterial infections, but repeated treatment with antibiotics can often lead to antibiotic-resistant infections,” said Peter Sly, MD, a pediatric respiratory physician and study co-author. Vitality.”

Current treatments

“Current treatments can restore many aspects of CFTR function, but they do not resolve or prevent lung infections, so there is a need to restore immune function,” Dr. Sly added.

By studying how a CFTR mutation affects the ability of immune cells, called macrophages, to fight bacteria, the researchers determined that in cystic fibrosis, lung macrophages cannot properly use zinc as an antibacterial agent.

Toxic levels

Matt Sweet, a co-researcher in the study, said: “One of the ways in which phagocytic cells destroy bacteria is by poisoning them with toxic levels of metals such as zinc,” noting that “the CFTR ion channel is essential for the zinc pathway, and because it does not work properly in infected people.” “With cystic fibrosis, it may partly explain why they are more susceptible to bacterial infections.”

Dysfunction

In addition to identifying zinc dysfunction in cells, the researchers also discovered a zinc transport protein, SLC30A1, that restored the ability of macrophages to kill bacteria in the context of a CFTR mutation, meaning that supplemental zinc treatment was also sufficient to restore bacterial killing in human lung macrophages in vitro.

New strategy

The results suggest that restoring the response to zinc toxicity could be pursued as a therapeutic strategy to restore immune function and effective defenses in people with cystic fibrosis, with researcher Sweet explaining that the goal currently is “to deliver a zinc transport protein to macrophages in people with cystic fibrosis with the expectation that it will reactivate their immune response.” “It reduces infection.”

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