Possible links of low carb diet to t-cell to coronavirus immunity?

[aaur4man]

Have the flu? Try the Keto diet! Study finds the high-fat, low-carb diet triggers the release of immune system cells that trap the virus before it spreads

• Experts fed mice infected with influenza virus a high-fat, low-carbohydrate
• Also known as the keto diet, those who stuck to the diet had a high survival rate
• The team found the diet triggered the release immune system cells in the body
• These cells produce mucus in in the cell linings of the lung and trapped the virus

 

The ketogenic diet has become a popular way to shed unwanted pounds and a recent study reveals it can also fight off the flu.

Researchers fed mice infected with the influenza virus a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, which resulted in a higher survival rate than compared to those on a normal high-carbohydrate diet.

The team found the ketogenic diet, or keto for short, triggered the release immune system cells that produce mucus in the cell linings of the lung and trapped the virus before it became worse.

 

Researchers fed mice infected with the influenza virus a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet, which resulted in a higher survival rate than compared to those on a normal high-carbohydrate diet

Keto includes a menu of meat, fish, poultry and non-starchy vegetables. 

 

 

This diet is said to share many similarities with the Atkins diet, as it involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat.   

Experts have now determined it may be a way to tame the flu, as it was found to activate a subset of T cells in the lungs not previously associated with the immune system's response to influenza, enhancing mucus production from airway cells that can effectively trap the virus, the researchers reported. 

The study was conducted at Yale University by two trainees and a lead scientist.

 

The team found the ketogenic diet, or keto for short, triggered the release immune system cells that produce mucus in the cell linings of the lung -while the high-carbohydrate diet did not

The two trainees are, Ryan Molony who found that immune system activators called inflammasomes can cause harmful immune system responses in their host, and Emily Goldberg who worked in Dixit's lab, which had shown that the ketogenic diet blocked formation of inflammasomes.

Co-senior author Akiko Iwasaki, the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Immunobiology and Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute said the findings were 'totally unexpected'.

'This study shows that the way the body burns fat to produce ketone bodies from the food we eat can fuel the immune system to fight flu infection, Dixit explained.

WHAT IS THE KETO DIET? 

The Ketogenic diet defines a low-carb, high-fat way of eating. 

Following this eating plan forces the body into a metabolic state, known as ketosis, which starves the body of carbohydrates but not calories.

Carbs are shunned in the keto diet as they cause the body to produce glucose, which is used as energy over fat.

Keto diets therefore lead to weight loss as they make the body burn fat as its primary energy source.

On the diet, followers can eat:

• Meat
• Leafy greens and most vegetables 
• Full-fat dairy
• Nuts and seeds
• Avocadoes and berries
• Fats, such as coconut oil

People cannot eat:

• Grains, including rice and wheat
• Sugar, like honey and maple syrup
• Most fruit
• White or sweet potatoes 

 

 

During the study, the team showed that mice infected with the flu virus that were fed the keto diet had a higher survival rate than mice on a high-carb normal diet.

The researchers were more excited to find the details behind this event.

The keto diet actually triggered the release of gamma delta T cells, immune system cells that produce mucus in the cell linings of the lung -while the high-carbohydrate diet did not.

When mice were bred without the gene that codes for gamma delta T cells, the ketogenic diet provided no protection against the influenza virus. 

The Ketogenic diet is a low-carb and high-fat regime

 

Source

Edited May 25, 2020 by aaur4man

[aaur4man]

Coronavirus: Immune clue sparks treatment hope

UK scientists are to begin testing a treatment that it is hoped could counter the effects of Covid-19 in the most seriously ill patients.

It has been found those with the most severe form of the disease have extremely low numbers of an immune cell called a T-cell.

T-cells clear infection from the body.

The clinical trial will evaluate if a drug called interleukin 7, known to boost T-cell numbers, can aid patients' recovery.

It involves scientists from the Francis Crick Institute, King's College London and Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital.

They have looked at immune cells in the blood of 60 Covid-19 patients and found an apparent crash in the numbers of T-cells.

Prof Adrian Hayday from the Crick Institute said it was a "great surprise" to see what was happening with the immune cells.

"They're trying to protect us, but the virus seems to be doing something that's pulling the rug from under them, because their numbers have declined dramatically.

In a microlitre (0.001ml) drop of blood, normal healthy adults have between 2,000 and 4,000 T-cells, also called T lymphocytes.

The Covid patients the team tested had between 200-1,200.

'Extremely encouraging'

The researchers say these findings pave the way for them to develop a "fingerprint test" to check the levels of T-cells in the blood which could provide early indications of who might go on to develop more severe disease.

But it also provides the possibility for a specific treatment to reverse that immune cell decline.

Manu Shankar-Hari, a critical care consultant at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, said that around 70% of patients that he sees in intensive care with Covid-19 arrive with between 400-800 lymphocytes per microlitre. "When they start to recover, their lymphocyte level also starts to go back up," he added.

Interleukin 7 has already been tested in a small group of patients with sepsis and proved to safely increase the production of these specific cells.

In this trial, it will be given to patients with a low lymphocyte count who have been in critical care for more than three days.

Mr Shankar-Hari said: "We are hoping that [when we increase the cell count] the viral infections gets cleared.

"As a critical care physician, I look after patients who are extremely unwell and, other than supportive care, we do not have any direct active treatment against the disease.

"So a treatment like this coming along for in the context of a clinical trial is extremely encouraging for critical care physicians across the UK."

 

This research has also provided insight into the specific ways in which this disease interacts with the immune system, which Prof Hayday says will be vital as scientists around the world look for clinically valuable information.

"The virus that has caused this completely Earth-changing emergency is unique - it's different. It is something unprecedented."

"The exact reason for this disruption - the spanner in the works of the T-cell system - is not at all clear to us.

"This virus is really doing something distinct and future research - which we will start immediately - needs to find out the mechanism by which this virus is having these effects."

 

 

Source

Edited May 25, 2020 by aaur4man

[Homelander]

I just had hotcakes for breakfast yesterday ...keto diet need a lot of discipline