It’s almost flu season; that magical time of year when everyone suddenly becomes more aware of germs and you side-eye anyone who coughs.
For most folks, the flu is a temporary bug that comes with tissues, tea, hot soup, and snuggling up under a blanket to binge-watch comfort shows, but for older adults, it can be a whole lot more serious.
Older people are more likely to suffer severely from the flu, and scientists have figured out why that is. In a new study, experts discovered that older people produce much higher levels of apolipoprotein D (ApoD), a glycosylated protein involved in lipid metabolism and inflammation, than younger people.
As a result, older people’s ability to resist virus infection is reduced, so they tend to experience more serious consequences to their health, such as pneumonia, organ failure, and even death.
The research team determined that elevated ApoD production, combined with aging lungs, causes tissue damage during infection, decreasing the antiviral type 1 interferon response.
The team consisted of researchers from the China Agricultural University, the University of Nottingham, the Institute of Microbiology, the National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, and the University of Edinburgh.
“Aging is a leading risk factor in influenza-related deaths. Furthermore, the global population is aging at an unprecedented rate in human history, posing major issues for healthcare and the economy. So we need to find out why older patients often suffer more severely from influenza virus infection,” said Professor Kin-Chow Chang, a co-author of the study from the University of Nottingham.
For the new study, the team examined the relationship between age and increased severity of influenza virus infection, using aging mice and donor human tissue. They learned that ApoD weakens the immune system’s antiviral response to influenza virus infection.
The protein causes mitochondria to break down on a larger scale so that more of the virus is produced during infection. Mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell, so they are essential for the cellular production of energy and for creating protective interferons.
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Overall, the findings indicate that with the help of therapeutic intervention tailored against ApoD, scientists can help dramatically lower flu-related deaths among the aging population.
So, while the flu might seem like just a seasonal bug for most people, it can actually be a battle for seniors because their bodies are less equipped to fight it.
Thanks to ongoing research, science is getting closer to developing better treatments.
“There is now an exciting opportunity to therapeutically ameliorate disease severity of the elderly from influenza virus infection by the inhibitory targeting of ApoD,” stated Professor Chang.
The details of the study were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
