How the brain responds to influenza

Cells in the brain undergo molecular changes during influenza infection that can persist for longer than the virus

When you are ill, your behaviour changes. You sleep more, eat less and are less likely to go out and be active. This behavioural change is called the ‘sickness response’ and is believed to help the immune system fight infection.

An area of the brain called the hypothalamus helps to regulate sleep and appetite. Previous research has shown that when humans are ill, the immune system sends signals to the hypothalamus, likely initiating the sickness response. However, it was not clear which brain cells in the hypothalamus are involved in the response and how long after infection the brain returns to its normal state.

To better understand the sickness response, Lemcke et al. infected mice with influenza then extracted and analysed brain tissue at different timepoints. The experiments showed that the major changes to gene expression in the hypothalamus early during an influenza infection are not happening in neurons – the cells in the brain that transmit electrical signals and usually control behaviour. Instead, it is cells called glia – which provide support and immune protection to the neurons – that change during infection. The findings suggest that these cells prepare to protect the neurons from influenza should the virus enter the brain.

Lemcke et al. also found that the brain takes a long time to go back to normal after an influenza infection. In infected mice, molecular changes in brain cells could be detected even after the influenza infection had been cleared from the respiratory system.

In the future, these findings may help to explain why some people take longer than others to fully recover from viral infections such as influenza and aid development of medications that speed up recovery.

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