Study identifies protein that may improve flu symptoms, reduce deaths

Sept. 29 (UPI) -- A new study has identified a protein that can potentially improve symptoms of the influenza virus and reduce mortality from it.

On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced its guidelines for the 2017-2018 flu season, focusing on increasing the number of people vaccinated in the United States against the flu.

In the 2016-2017 influenza season, vaccination rates were mostly stagnant among all age groups, aside from small increases in those 50 and older, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this week.

Flu vaccination coverage throughout the entire United States was 46.8 percent, which is an increase of 1.2 percent from the 2015-2016 season, the CDC reports, that translates roughly into half the country not receiving the flu vaccine.

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine identified a new strategy to fight the flu for those who go unvaccinated -- or get sick even with the vaccine -- using the small protein retrocyclin-101, or RC-101, that has the potential to improve symptoms and mortality associated with the flu.

The study, published in the October edition of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, involved isolating mouse and human macrophages in vitro and a mouse influenza infection model to determine that RC-101 inhibited the production of inflammatory cytokines.

Researchers infected two groups of mice with a lethal dose of influenza, giving one group RC-101 two days after infection for a total of five days and the other group a placebo.

Mice were treated with RC-101 exhibited less severe symptoms of the flu and decreased mortality compared to the mice who received the placebo, researchers reported.

"Every year, thousands of people across the country die from the flu or its complications -- despite widespread use of annual influenza vaccines," said Dr. Daniel Prantner, a research associate in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "In the future, we hope to see RC-101 approved for use in the clinic, where it can be another tool in the battle against this disease."