Brothers in Arms: Commensal Bacteria Help Fight Viruses
Date: 25.6.2012
Healthy humans harbor an enormous and diverse group of bacteria and other bugs that live within their intestines. These microbial partners provide beneficial aid in multiple ways -- from helping digest food to the development of a healthy immune system. In a new study published online in the journal Immunity, David Artis, PhD, associate professor of Microbiology, and Michael Abt, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the Artis lab, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, show that commensal bacteria are also essential to fight off viral infections.
They demonstrated that mice -- treated with antibiotics to reduce numbers of commensal bacteria -- exhibit an impaired antiviral immune response and a substantially delayed clearance of a systemic virus or influenza virus that infects the airways. What's more, the treated mice had severely damaged airways and increased rate of death after the experimental influenza virus infection, demonstrating that alterations in commensal bacterial communities can have a negative impact on immunity against viruses.
