A University of California, Los Angeles study published online
this week in Science offers clues about how various bacteria
masquerade as viruses and, as a result, trick the immune system
into using the wrong defense strategy. As explained in a
university release, the bacteria manipulates the body into using
a protein called interferon-beta to fend off its attack, but
such an approach dose more harm than good: Not only is
interferon-beta ineffective against bacteria, but it can also
block the action of interferon-gamma, to the advantage of
bacteria. Further, if a real virus were to infect the body,
triggering interferon-beta, it would divert the attention of the
immune response, preventing an attack on the bacterial invader.
The researchers say this may explain why the flu can lead to a
more serious bacteria-based infection like pneumonia. In the
study, researchers used leprosy as a model to understand how
bacteria can fool the immune system. Senor author Robert Modlin,
MD, said the team opted to study lepros