Researchers from Trinity and St James’s Hospital have found that DFX – a drug often used to counterattack iron overdoses – supports lung immunity against tuberculosis.
The research team, led by Professor Joseph Keane, have discovered DFX attaches to iron, driving the immune response to tuberculosis infection by activating the glycolysis pathway.
The findings – published in Frontiers in Immunology today – show that this pathway helps immune cells produce energy to fight infection as well as stimulating immune cells called macrophages to tackle the tuberculosis infection.
Dr James Phelan, Department of Clinical Medicine and Senior Author of the study said in a press statement: “Infectious disease experts globally agree on the important role metabolic processes play in eradicating a variety of infections.”
“DFX helps infected immune cells to readily switch on metabolism which could help immune cells fight the infection”, he said.
Iron is known to have an important role in the daily functioning of our bodies but is also essential for the survival of viruses and bacteria. It has been shown that depriving infections of iron can limit the bacterial burden and improve patient outcomes.
By helping immune cells turn on glycolysis, DFX has the potential to aid in developing more lung targeted treatment of pulmonary infection, which is the ultimate goal of this research group.
In addition, a clinical trial is currently underway using DFX to treat the coronavirus. However, the role of DFX in the fight against human lung infection is unclear as of yet.
Still the biggest infection killer in the world, tuberculosis is caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis that most often affect the lungs.
The disease kills over 4,000 individuals daily throughout the world; while here in Ireland cases reach over 300 annually with a rising incidence of resistant and highly complex cases.
