A team of British researchers has made progress in the study of a human gene that can prevent most bird flu viruses from infecting humans, reports Reuters.
Avian flu mainly spreads among wild birds such as ducks and seagulls and can also infect farmed and domestic birds such as chickens, turkeys and quail.
Although these viruses mostly affect birds, they can also be transmitted to birds of prey and, in rare cases, to humans, usually in close contact with infected specimens.
A team of scientists from the Center for Virus Research at the MRC University of Glasgow studied hundreds of genes normally expressed by human cells, comparing their behavior during infection with either seasonal human or bird flu viruses .
They focused on a gene called BTN3A3, which is expressed in both the human upper and lower respiratory tracts. This gene, nicknamed “Force B” by the researchers, was found to block the replication of most strains of bird flu in human cells.
However, the gene’s antiviral activity failed to protect against seasonal human influenza viruses.
The gene is part of a larger defensive apparatus in the human immune arsenal against bird viruses.
All major human influenza epidemics, including the 1918–1919 global influenza pandemic, were caused by BTN3A3-resistant influenza viruses. The gene therefore appears to be a key factor in the potential of a strain of bird flu to cause a human pandemic, the researchers said.
Of course, viruses undergo mutations all the time, and this does not mean that avian flu viruses could not evolve to escape the action of the BTN3A3 gene, stiripesurse.ro cites.
Earlier this year, a new strain of H5N1 bird flu, which is easily transmitted among wild birds, spread explosively to all corners of the world, infecting and killing a variety of mammal species and raising fears of a human pandemic . To date, only a few human cases have been reported, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
About 50% of H5N1 strains circulating globally so far in 2023 are resistant to BTN3A3, said Professor Massimo Palmarini, one of the authors of the study published in the scientific journal Nature.
“This is the kind of high-risk stuff that we should pay special attention to,” said Sam Wilson, co-lead author of the study.
2023-06-29 21:35:51
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