A potential new method of treating bacterial skin infections has been found by researchers.
According to a study published in the science magazine Nature on Friday, a team of researchers from the University of Calgary in Canada made discoveries that could improve the treatment of bacterial infections and wounds.
The study’s first author, Dr. Rachel Kratofi, said in a press release, “It is exciting that we have uncovered a fundamental discovery that could enhance infections and tissue repair in humans, especially in hard-to-treat situations.” “More studies and a model more closely similar to human disease will be required to translate our results from bench to bedside,” the statement reads.
According to the study, monocytes alone can promote quicker wound healing. Monocytes control leptin levels and blood vessel development, which aids in wound healing. They also create the hormone ghrelin, which promotes the healing of wounds.
Neutrophils and monocytes, two types of white blood cells, were once thought to be recruited to remove bacteria from an affected spot on the skin. These cells form our bodies’ initial line of defense against the immune system when they cooperate.
hormones involved in metabolism and tissue repair
Leptin is created by fat cells after you consume a meal and feel full, but ghrelin is produced by the stomach when you are hungry.
The importance of this ghrelin-leptin balance for metabolism and diet has long been acknowledged. However, its connection to immune systems and tissue repair has remained a mystery up until now.
Kratofil used intravital microscopy, a specialty of the university’s Kubes Lab, to observe the immunological response to Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) germs in an animal model. This technique allows the monitoring of living cells.
Healthy individuals frequently have S. aureus on their skin or in their noses. It can result in several skin and tissue diseases, including abscesses, boils, pneumonia, and endocarditis, an inflammation of the heart’s chambers and valves that has the potential to be lethal.
The body attracts healthy immune cells, such as neutrophils and monocytes, after contracting S aureus. Neutrophils eliminate microorganisms, whereas monocytes assist in tissue repair. Without monocytes, leptin synthesis rises, leading to the infection’s development of blood vessels. Leptin-induced excess blood vessel development is inhibited by ghrelin, leading to tissue healing.
Study findings indicate a “paradigm shift”
“This study is significant because it challenges the conventional wisdom that neutrophils and monocytes eliminate germs. Our research emphasizes the importance of monocytes in wound healing, “Kratofi elucidated.
The lead investigator of Kubes Lab and his study team claim that the discovery “opens the door to the introduction of metabolic hormones (ghrelin and leptin) in immunology and microbiology.”
As an illustration, Kubes noted, “It will be intriguing to explore how ghrelin and leptin behave in different disease models, such as sterile damage or cancer, and to learn how these processes are affected when a patient has many concurrent diseases or conditions, such as obesity and diabetes.”
The next step for the researchers is to learn more about how immune cells, such as neutrophils, operate during an infection. They are especially interested in how infections are removed by neutrophils and whether or if neutrophils perform any other functions except removing bacteria.
The interdisciplinary work of this research team is the outcome of 133 independent experiments carried out in collaboration with the labs of Drs. Keith Sharkey and Jeff Biernaskie (Snyder Institute, Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI), and researchers from Texas A&M University and University Hospital Regensburg, Germany.
The study was financed by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.