New york: A groundbreaking investigation conducted by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York has identified a definitive link between severe influenza infection and subsequent cardiac injury, illuminating a previously obscure mechanism underlying flu-related heart complications.
According to Oman News Agency, the longitudinal study, which tracked patient outcomes over several years, confirmed a marked increase in myocardial infarction incidents during peak influenza seasons. Nevertheless, until now, the precise biological pathways governing this association remained insufficiently characterized.
Through meticulous analysis of tissue specimens obtained from patients who succumbed to severe influenza complications, the research team identified a specific population of immune cells that migrate from pulmonary tissues to the myocardium upon viral infection.
Rather than participating in antiviral defense, these cells aberrantly produce elevated quantities of type 1 interferon, a signaling protein that appears to exert deleterious effects on cardiac muscle architecture and function.
The investigators posit that this cellular subset constitutes a critical mediator in the pathogenesis of influenza-associated cardiac sequelae. They further emphasized that annual influenza vaccination may confer cardioprotective benefits by attenuating the pathological overexpression of this interferon response.