Simple amino acid identified as potentially the difference between life and death from disease

The first thing they noticed was that the infected mice didn't eat as much - a sign of potential metabolic changes.

Not all diseases are caused by nutrient deficiencies, but usually one is.

For example, vitamin D deficiency is seen in many cases of disease, from cancer to upper respiratory tract infections, sepsis and osteoporosis.

Recently, researchers at the renowned Salk Institute for Biological Research found that methionine, a simple amino acid that we all get from animal products, plays a major role in increasing the risk of death from disease.

Proudly, the Salk team has been researching something called "disease pathology" which describes the process of infection, or injury, to the point where a patient recovers or dies.Salk scientist Janelle Ayres, PhD, has spent decades researching why some patients move forward and others move backward.

He says that inflammation is a key factor, and that the kidneys play an underappreciated role in removing inflammation from the body when its important role in the healing process is over.

"Our study shows that small biological differences, including dietary factors, can have a large impact on disease outcome," says senior author Ayres.

"Our discovery of a kidney-driven mechanism that limits inflammation, combined with the protective effects of methionine supplementation in mice, suggests the potential of nutrition as a mechanistically informed medical intervention that can direct and optimize the pathways that humans follow in response to disease-causing insults."

Inflammation is the immune system's response to any challenger.Whether it's a pathogen in your stomach or a splint in your finger, immune cells rush to the scene to facilitate the healing process.When these immune system cells arrive, they activate the killer alarms using proteins called pro-inflammatory cytokines.

“Proinflammatory cytokines are ultimately what leads to disease and death in many cases,” says first author Katia Troha, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher in the Ayres lab."The immune system must balance inflammation to attack the invader without damaging healthy cells in the body. Our job is to find the mechanisms it uses to do this, so we can target them to improve patient outcomes."

To understand how the body controls its cytokine levels, the researchers used a mouse model of systemic inflammation caused by the pathogen Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.The first thing they noticed was that the infected mice didn't eat much - a possible sign of metabolic changes.To assess nutritional status, researchers looked at levels of circulating amino acids, which are protein building blocks that support cellular health throughout the body.

Infected mice showed depressed levels of methionine - an essential amino acid found in our daily diet.Interestingly, Troha decided to feed a new group of mice with supplemental methionine, and surprisingly, these mice were protected from infection.

See also: Vitamin K used in "groundBreaking" prospective treatment for neurodizesignificative diseases

Further tests showed that methionine reduced circulating cytokine levels by interacting with a wonderful friend: the kidneys.Methionine increases the filtration capacity of the kidneys, improves blood flow, and helps the body eliminate inflammatory cytokines through the urine.Importantly, this methionine-renal effect cleared excess cytokines without inhibiting other key aspects of the body's response.

Curious whether methionine's effects would be present in other conditions, the researchers also looked at models of sepsis and kidney damage.Methionine was also protected in these mice, supporting that methionine may be a useful tool in other inflammatory diseases.

Salk scientists were able to give infected mice completely different disease pathways by supplementing their diet with methionine.The amino acid boosted the animals' kidney function and protected them from wasting, blood-brain barrier dysfunction and death by inhibiting the body's ability to fight and kill Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.

More nutrition: Another study shows that a daily multivitamin for people over 60 slows the memory loss that comes with age.

Models of sepsis and kidney injury show that these effects extend to other infections and inflammatory conditions, making methionine a useful tool in the treatment of infectious diseases, especially in patients with kidney disease or kidney failure or on dialysis.

“Our findings add to the growing body of evidence that common dietary elements can be used as medicine,” Ayers said. “By studying these basic protective mechanisms, we are uncovering surprising new ways to shift individuals doomed to disease and death toward a path of health and survival.”

Share enough reasons to eat less meat or consider a methionine supplement...