Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Oh Really

Glucose: Potential new target for combating annual seasonal influenza
Reducing viruses' glucose supply weakens the microbes' ability to infect host cells.
Dr. Adamson and Kohio boosted glucose concentrations in the laboratory cell cultures, and influenza infection rate concomitantly increased. Treating the viral cells with a chemical that inhibits glucose metabolism significantly decreased viral replication in the lab cultures. The researchers also demonstrated that the infection could be restored to high levels simply by adding ATP, the major source of energy for cellular reactions, bypassing the need for glucose.
Do you know what inhibits glucose metabolism?  A ketogenic diet.