MEMPHIS, Nov 4, 2008 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. medical researchers say they've
discovered how parasites living inside cells can thwart the body's immune system
by blocking nitric oxide production.
The St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists said they found a mechanism
by which intracellular pathogens can halt the production of nitric oxide -- one
of the body's key chemical immune system weapons. The researchers, using a mouse
model, found the microbes accomplish that task by subverting the biochemical
machinery used by immune cells called macrophages to produce the chemical.
"Although the findings are basic, they suggest that it might be feasible to
develop drugs to block such pathogens' biochemical subversion, restoring nitric
oxide production and empowering macrophages to attack the invaders," said Peter
Murray, an associate member of the St. Jude departments of infectious diseases
and immunology.
The research -- supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health, the
German Research Foundation, the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities
and the Sandler Program for Asthma Research -- appears in the advance online
edition of the journal Nature Immunology.
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Copyright 2008 by United Press International