Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have discovered a new biological pathway of innate immunity that ramps up inflammation and then identified agents that can block it, leading to increased survival and improved lung function in animal models of pneumonia. They reported their findings today in Nature Immunology. Pneumonia and other infections sometimes provoke an inflammatory response from the body that is more detrimental than the disease-causing bacteria, said senior author Rama Mallampalli, M.D, professor and vice chair for research, Department of Medicine, and director of the Acute Lung Injury Center of Excellence at Pitt.
