thebiostories

🌏 Available in: English | 한국어 An Australian Discovery Reveals a Dysregulated Immune Pathway in Acute Rheumatic Fever How a common bacterial infection can trigger persistent inflammation and lifelong heart-valve damage ⏱ In 30 Seconds ✓ Acute rheumatic fever can develop after infection with Group A Streptococcus and may eventually cause permanent heart-valve damage. ✓ Australian researchers identified a dysregulated IL-1β–GM-CSF immune pathway in cells from people with acute rheumatic fever. ✓ IL-1β promoted the expansion of inflammatory GM-CSF-producing CD4 T cells , offering a possible explanation for persistent immune activation. ✓ The study also showed that hydroxychloroquine could suppress this response in laboratory experiments, suggesting a potential direction for future immune-targeted therapies. Every year, hundreds of millions of people are infected with Group A Streptococcus , commonly known as GAS. For most people, the infection causes a...