A Japanese research team hopes to develop a treatment that reduces the severity of viral pneumonia.
(Medicine Times Daily News = Reporter Jeong Woo-yong) A study found that activating the intestinal flora with fever suppresses viral pneumonia such as COVID-19 and influenza.
A research group at the University of Tokyo in Japan announced that it has been confirmed that activation of the intestinal flora by fever increases resistance to viral pneumonia and suppresses its severity.
It has been confirmed that activated intestinal flora increases the amount of secondary bile acids in the body and suppresses viral proliferation and inflammatory responses caused by viral infections.
He is notable for his research achievements, which help develop treatments that suppress the severity of viral pneumonia and uncover the mechanism by which older people easily become severe.
The research team analyzed the severity of infection with the influenza virus in mice reared under various temperature conditions. As a result, at 36 degrees, the body temperature of mice exceeded 38 degrees and showed high resistance to influenza and Corona 19.
It has been confirmed that in the acquisition of resistance, the activation of the intestinal flora as it warms up is important, and not the body temperature itself of 38 degrees.
In the analysis of metabolites in the serum or the contents of the caecum, the level of secondary bile acids in the body increased in mice with a body temperature of 38 degrees and above.
When secondary bile acids such as deoxycholic acid were injected into mice at 22 degrees Celsius, the amount of virus in the lungs and the number of neutrophils decreased, and survival after infection improved.
When serum samples from COVID-19 patients were examined, bile acid levels were found to be lower in mild cases than in mild cases, and a similar correlation was found in humans.
Until now, it has not been clear whether body temperature and temperature affect the severity of a viral infection.