Link: Killing Bacteria Isn’t Enough to Restore Immune Function After Infection.
A bacterial molecule that initially signals to animals that they have been invaded must be wiped out by a special enzyme before an infected animal can regain full health, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
Using a genetically engineered mouse model, the team found that simply eradicating the infection-causing bug isn’t enough to restore an animal’s immune function. Lipopolysaccharide, or LPS, the dominant bacterial "signal" molecule that heralds the invasion, must also be inactivated. The findings are to appear online Sept. 11 in Cell Host & Microbe.
"We think this is the first evidence that killing the causative agent of a bacterial infection isn’t enough for an animal to recover fully," said Dr. Robert Munford, professor of internal medicine and microbiology, and senior author of the study. "You’ve got to get rid of this molecule that the host is responding to or else its immune system remains suppressed."
