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Flu response may depend on genes
“In asymptomatic people the immune
response is just as active, but dramatically
different in nature,” Hero says. People
who stayed well not only repressed the
stress response, but also activated anti-
inflammation and antioxidant genes.
“This is really exciting data,” says
Octavio Ramilo of Nationwide Children’s
Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The study
illustrates that analyzing gene activ-
ity may help doctors determine which
patients are most in danger of getting
seriously ill. But this study hasn’t put
the entire story together yet, he says.
Researchers still need to determine
whether the different responses depend
upon the person’s genetic makeup, prop-
erties of the virus or other factors. And
the people in the study may react differ-
ently to other flu strains or even to the
same one under different circumstances.
The technology may one day help doc-
tors identify which viruses are infecting
babies with fevers and predict which
infants will end up in intensive care.
Different activity patterns accompany severe, mild reactions
17 volunteers with a strain of seasonal
flu called H3N2/Wisconsin. Nine of the
volunteers got sick. Some of the others
reported feeling under the weather, but
had no clinically discernible symptoms.
By Tina Hesman Saey
The difference between staying well
and suffering days of misery from the
flu depends on which of two contradictory ways the immune system reacts to
the infection.
The researchers drew blood before the
flu inoculation and every eight hours for
five days after the initial infection. The
team then examined the activity of about
22,000 genes in each blood sample.
One strong reaction releases inflammatory chemicals leading to sickness,
researchers report online August 25 in
PLoS Genetics. An equally strong but
opposite reaction produces anti-inflam-matory compounds and fights off the flu
without producing symptoms.
“The persistent patterns that came
out of this were striking to say the least,”
says Hero, a computer scientist and
electrical engineer at the University of
Michigan Medical School.
Alfred Hero and colleagues infected
Gene activity patterns could predict
how sick people would get up to 36 hours
before symptoms peaked, the researchers found. Those who got sick activated
immune chemicals that trigger inflammation and stress responses.
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