The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) is attracting attention by opening a new chapter in obesity research by revealing the mechanism by which obesity suppresses ‘herpes type 2’ that causes sexually transmitted diseases.
According to KAIST on the 6th, a research team led by Professor Lee Heung-kyu of the Graduate School of Medical Sciences found that obesity strengthens resistance to type 2 herpes infection.
Herpes virus type 2, a type of herpes virus, is a sexually transmitted disease that is mainly transmitted through the genital organs, and can cause reduced immunity and inflammation of the nervous system. However, it is difficult to know whether the infection is hidden in the ganglion, and effective vaccines and treatments are lacking.
The research team found that resistance to the virus develops through the interaction of vaginal commensal microorganisms and gamma delta T cells during type 2 herpes infection through the female genital tract.
It is known that obese women have a different composition of commensal microorganisms in the vagina than thin women.
Through experiments, the research team found that bacteria that appeared to originate from the intestine were mixed in the vagina of obese female mice, confirming that arginine plays an important role in the initial infection of the virus.
In addition, it was found that arginine strengthens the antiviral immune response of gamma delta T cells in the vagina and already suppresses viral infection and spread earlier than when adaptive immune cells are activated.
Obesity is known to be a factor that has a negative effect on various diseases such as tumors and viral infections, but the research team expects to open a new field of obesity research in the future by observing a paradoxical phenomenon that it can actually help.
The study was published on the 8th of last month in the international journal ‘Cell Report’ in the field of life science.
Professor Lee Heung-gyu of KAIST Graduate School of Medical Sciences, who led the study, said, “It is meaningful in that it revealed that obesity can be helpful for certain infectious diseases.” “We will apply the molecular mechanism to accelerate the development of antiviral drugs.”
