Cell; how do humans survive infection? The study identified the role of a key hormone

August 26, 2019 / BIOON / - in order to overcome infection, the immune system should not only kill the invading virus or bacteria, but also endure the inflammation caused by infection In a new study, researchers at Yale University found a key component of the second anti infection mechanism The Yale team focused on a hormone called growth and differentiation factor 15, which rises in many different diseases By studying blood samples from patients, the researchers found that GDF15 levels were high in patients with sepsis, a life-threatening complication of infection, regardless of the type of infection They say the hormone appears to be a common feature of inflammatory diseases Image source: in further mouse experiments, cell researchers determined that GDF15's role is to help the body tolerate inflammation during acute infection Its role is to protect the heart during infection by signaling to the brain that the liver produces triglycerides, a type of fat that the heart needs to function properly These results suggest that GDF15 has a protective effect during acute infection or disease However, the researchers say its role in chronic inflammatory diseases is unclear and could be harmful This finding can provide reference for the treatment strategies of inflammatory diseases in the future, including sepsis, autoimmune diseases and cardiovascular diseases This paper, jointly led by Ruslan medzhitov and Andrew Wang, was published on cell Reference: Harding h Luan et al GDF15 is an infection induced central mediator of tissue tolerance, cell (2019) Doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2019.07.033