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A common food additive called tert-butylhydroquinone (E319) suppresses the immune response that the body builds when it fights the flu; It also reduces the effectiveness of the flu vaccine through its effects on T cells, according to a new mouse study conducted by scientists at Michigan State University.
TBHQ, at a dose suitable for human nutrition, alters primary immune responses and memory to influenza infection. Image Credit: C. S. Goldsmith & A. Balish / CDC.
"Our studies have shown that the immune response to influenza infection was weakened in mice on a tert-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ) -based diet," said lead author Robert Freeborn, a candidate for Ph.D. at Michigan State University.
"In our mouse model, tBHQ suppressed the function of two types of T cells, helper T cells and killer T cells. In the end, this led to more serious symptoms during a subsequent influenza infection. "
When a person is infected with the flu virus, helper T cells direct other parts of the immune system and help coordinate an appropriate response, while killer T cells track infected cells and eliminate them. from the body.
In the experiments, Freeborn and his colleagues found that mice with a tBHQ-enriched diet activated T helper cells and killer T cells more slowly, slowing the clearance of the virus.
"At the present time, our main hypothesis is that tBHQ causes these effects by upregulating some proteins that are known to suppress the immune system," said Freeborn.
"The expression of these proteins, CTLA-4 and IL-10, has been upregulated in two different models that we use in the laboratory."
"However, further work is needed to determine whether upregulation of these suppressor proteins is actually responsible for the effects of tBHQ during an influenza infection."
In addition, when the mice were reinfected with a different, but related, influenza strain, those in the tBHQ diet experienced a longer illness and lost more weight.
"This suggests that tBHQ has altered the" memory response "that usually causes the immune system to fight a second infection," Freeborn said.
"Since memory response is essential to the functioning of vaccines, a deficiency of this function could potentially reduce the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine."
"T cells are involved in the immune response to various diseases, so tBHQ could also play a role in other types of infectious diseases."
The scientists presented their results on April 7 at the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) at the 2019 Experimental Biology Meeting in Orlando, FL.
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Robert Freeborn et al. The immune response to influenza is inhibited by the synthetic additive and Nrf2 activator, tert-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ). ASPET 2019, abstract # B107 505.3
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