Flu doesn’t just affect the lungs… a study reveals its danger to the heart.
Researchers believe they now understand how severe cases of influenza damage the heart, providing an explanation for the annual increase in heart attacks during periods of high influenza rates.
“Our years of research have shown that the rate of heart attacks increases during flu season, but… there is not enough evidence of the mechanisms behind this phenomenon,” said Philip Swirski, lead author of the study at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, in a statement.
By studying tissue samples from hospitalized patients who died from influenza, researchers discovered that a type of immune cell becomes infected in the lungs and then spreads to the heart .
Instead of performing the immune cell’s usual function of clearing the virus, infected cells produce large amounts of a protein called type 1 interferon, which damages heart muscle cells, leading to weakening.
Jeffrey Downie, a co-author of the study and also of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said in a statement that “these cells act as a Trojan horse for the immune system during influenza infection , as the infection occurs in the lungs and they carry the virus to the heart and spread it to the heart muscle cells.”
Researchers writing in the journal Immunity confirmed that the flu vaccine provides some protection against this type of heart damage.
Downey noted that in laboratory experiments, the mRNA vaccine, which controls type 1 interferon activity, reduced influenza-related heart muscle damage in test tubes and during a mouse experiment and boosted the muscles’ ability to pump blood.
According to Swirski, the new findings they reached “enhance the chances of developing new treatments, which are much needed given the current lack of effective options for preventing heart damage” caused by influenza.
References
Flu doesn’t just affect the lungs… a study reveals its danger to the heart. , sky news arabia, www.skynewsarabia.com/technology/1852178-الإنفلونزا-تضرب-الرئة-فقط-دراسة-تكشف-خطرها-القلب