GAINESVILLE, Fla., May 7 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have determined how inhaled anthrax paralyzes the body's defenses, preventing immune cells from reaching the site of infection.
Anthrax causes flu-like symptoms that can take weeks to develop and current methods of detecting anthrax rely on lab cultures that can take days to complete.
"We're looking for approaches to detect anthrax earlier in the blood," said Russell During, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Florida's College of Medicine. "We're trying to develop a test that would allow detection within two or three hours of the bugs entering the blood and secreting toxins."
The researchers found anthrax, once inhaled, releases a lethal toxin that immobilizes white blood cells that normally seek and destroy invading bacteria. Just traces of the toxin can slow movement of those cells, called neutrophils, by 50 percent, said Fred Southwick, division chief of infectious diseases at the UF College of Medicine and the study's lead author.
Immune cells rely on rod-shaped filaments called actin to propel them toward an infection. In a previous study, Southwick found the toxin prevents actin assembly.
The UF researchers published their findings in a recent issue of the EMBO Journal.
