Experiment with newborn mice indicated a new way to fight flu

Vaccines and medications are available to protect against influenza, but they do not guarantee complete safety. Therefore, medical professionals continue to look for additional ways to prevent the spread of infection. A new study by American scientists involving newborn mice has shown encouraging results.

Infection with some viruses begins when viral particles attach to sugar molecules on the surface of cells lining the sinuses and throats of mammals, including humans. Influenza A virus particles, for example, are able to bond to a monosaccharide, sialic acid, present on the surface of the cells under attack.

In an experiment with mice, a team of specialists from the Grossman School of Medicine of New York University (USA) demonstrated that if you do not allow viral particles to connect with sialic acid, it not only limits the penetration of infection, but also prevents the release of influenza A viruses and their transmission to other animals. The work was published by mBio, the journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

Influenza A is considered the most common and causes the largest epidemics. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 650,000 people die from seasonal influenza worldwide each year.

The researchers desialylated, that is, removed sialic acid receptors by applying directly to the nasal cavity of the mice the enzyme neuraminidase, which is known to weaken the ability of acids to be retained on the surface of cells. After the mice were infected with the influenza A virus (the scientists tested six strains in total), it turned out that neuraminidase treatment was able to dramatically reduce and completely suppress mouse-to-mouse transmission.

In their experiments, the medics found that in rodents three to seven days old, unlike older individuals, there are large amounts of sialic acids in the cells of the upper respiratory tract. In particular, the researchers blocked in the test subjects receptors α2,3- and α2,6-sialic acids, which are also characteristic of the human respiratory tract. According to the scientists, this feature of newborn mice makes them a good model for studying the spread of viral infections among children, considered one of the main vectors of influenza.

The researchers believe that if further experiments on humans are successful, it will open the way to the creation of an effective means to prevent the spread of influenza.

However, infectious disease specialist and lead author Mila Ortigoza (Mila Ortigoza) warned that extensive clinical trials are needed before neuraminidase will be approved for use in humans. Her team plans to conduct additional experiments to find out why infants are more susceptible to respiratory viruses and whether blocking sialic acid receptors in children could prevent the spread of influenza, she said.