When two people get the same infection, their outcomes can be very different.
One person may recover quickly with few symptoms, while another may become seriously ill or even die.
Scientists have spent decades trying to understand why this happens.
Age, genetics, existing health conditions, and lifestyle all play important roles, but researchers are increasingly discovering that the body’s response to disease may be just as important as the disease itself.
A new study from the Salk Institute suggests that a common nutrient found in everyday foods may help the body cope better with severe inflammation during illness. The research, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, found that an amino acid called methionine helped protect mice from life-threatening complications caused by infection and inflammation.
Methionine is an essential amino acid, which means the body cannot make it on its own. People must obtain it through food. It is found in foods such as meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, nuts, and seeds. Amino acids are often called the building blocks of protein because they help build and repair tissues throughout the body.
The study was led by Dr. Janelle Ayres at the Salk Institute. Her team has spent years studying why some individuals survive disease while others do not. Instead of focusing only on killing germs, the researchers are interested in understanding how the body can remain healthy and recover even when facing infection or injury.
One major factor in many serious illnesses is inflammation. Inflammation is a normal and necessary part of the immune response. When the body detects a threat, such as bacteria, viruses, or an injury, it sends immune cells to the affected area. These cells release chemical signals that help coordinate the body’s defense system.
However, inflammation can become dangerous when it is too strong or lasts too long. Excessive inflammation can damage healthy tissues and organs. In many severe infections, it is not only the infection itself that causes harm but also the body’s overwhelming inflammatory response.
To better understand this process, the researchers infected mice with Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, a bacterium that causes widespread inflammation.
They noticed that infected mice had lower levels of methionine circulating in their blood. This observation led them to wonder whether restoring methionine levels might influence the animals’ response to infection.
The scientists then provided another group of infected mice with methionine-enriched food. The results surprised them. Mice receiving additional methionine were much more likely to survive. They experienced less wasting, fewer problems with the blood-brain barrier, and reduced damage from inflammation.
Perhaps even more surprising was how methionine produced these benefits. The nutrient did not appear to work primarily through the immune system itself. Instead, it improved kidney function.
The kidneys are best known for filtering waste products from the blood and producing urine. However, the researchers discovered that healthier kidney function also helped remove excess inflammatory molecules called cytokines from the bloodstream.
Cytokines act as chemical messengers during immune responses, but excessive levels can contribute to severe illness and death.
Methionine improved blood flow through the kidneys and increased their filtering capacity. As a result, the kidneys were able to clear excess cytokines more efficiently. Importantly, this process reduced harmful inflammation without weakening the body’s ability to fight the infection.
The researchers also tested methionine in mouse models of sepsis and kidney injury. Once again, the nutrient showed protective effects. These findings suggest that the benefits may extend beyond a single infection and could potentially apply to a wider range of inflammatory diseases.
The study raises interesting questions about the role of nutrition in medicine. Scientists have long understood that diet affects health, but this research suggests that specific nutrients may directly influence how the body responds to disease at a biological level.
This study provides strong experimental evidence that methionine can alter disease outcomes in mice by improving kidney function and reducing excessive inflammation. The work is especially interesting because it identifies a new kidney-based mechanism for controlling inflammatory cytokines.
However, the findings remain limited to animal studies. Many treatments that work well in mice do not always produce the same results in humans. The study does not prove that methionine supplements will help people with infections, sepsis, or kidney disease.
Human clinical trials will be necessary before any medical recommendations can be made. Nevertheless, the findings open an exciting new area of research into how nutrition might help guide the body toward recovery and survival during serious illness.
If you care about health, please read studies that vitamin D can help reduce inflammation, and vitamin K could lower your heart disease risk by a third.
For more health information, please see recent studies about new way to halt excessive inflammation, and results showing foods that could cause inflammation.
