WESTON, Fla. – Pneumonia, an inflammation of the lungs, is the leading cause of death worldwide, especially among children.
Research is now underway into a new potential target for this deadly infection.
Pulmonologist Dr. Samuel Gurevich with the Cleveland Clinic Weston said antibiotic resistance has led to the need for alternative treatments for pneumonia.
A recent study focused on a special substance made by our immune system called interleukin-26 or I-L 26.
“And what they found was that I-L-26 plays a very central role in our immune systems’ response to infection; it both recruits other chemicals and other cells in our immune system to fight the infection and it could also directly kill the bacteria itself,” he said.
While not a direct medication itself, Gurevich said I-L-26 could help in the development for new treatment therapies for pneumonia.
Diet and prostate cancer
Researchers are learning more about how diet may increase the risk of developing an aggressive type of prostate cancer.
Three specific metabolites found in food and formed by gut bacteria were associated with lethal prostate cancer.
Men with elevated levels of the presence of the metabolites in their blood serum were up to two and a half times more likely to die from prostate cancer than those with the lowest levels.
The metabolites are found in a variety of foods including animal protein, fish, nuts, and even vegetables, which makes them difficult to completely avoid
Researchers hope the findings will open the door to further studies into how the human metabolism interacts with prostate cancer.