New study reveals gut microbial anti-flu mechanism

A U.Sstudy has shown that a gut microbe called Clostridium difficile can help mice fight severe flu by metabolizing flavonoidsFlavonoids are naturally present in foods such as black tea, red wine and blueberries that people consume every day, and eating more of these foods can help fight the flu, the researchers said in a paper published Thursday in the journal Scienceinfluenza is extremely harmful to the elderly, infants, pregnant women and people with chronic diseases such as asthmaAccording to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average of 113 children in the U.Shave died from the flu each year since 2004Previous studies have shown that gut microbes may help fight the fluIn the new study, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in StLouis hope to find a mechanism by which gut microbes fight influenzaresearchers screened the human gut microbes and found that Clostridium difficile metabolizes flavonoids, producing a metabolite that enhances interferon signals, deaminotycarine (DAT)They gave DAT to mice and then infected them with influenza viruses, and found that the mice had much less lung damage than mice that did not receive DAT treatment, but their levels of infection were essentially the same as those in mice that were not treatedThis means that DAT does not prevent viral infections, but suppresses damage to lung tissueflavonoids have long been thought to help the immune system fight infections, and new research suggests that the compound may need to work with gut microbes to protect people from flu and other virusesThe researchers note that flavonoids are common in the diet and are rich in foods such as black tea, red wine and blueberries, so it's good to eat more of these foods before the flu season begins