Monthly Research Publication Highlight reveals new insight into the impact of pneumonia-causing pathogens on host defense and chronic lung disease
The UK College of Pharmacy Research Publication Highlight for April 2017 was published in Immunobiology and is titled, “Pneumocystis infection alters the activation state of pulmonary macrophages”.
The project is a collaborative effort between the UK Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy. The study’s lead author is Jessica Deckman a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Beth Garvy in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics (MIMG) in the College of Medicine. Cathryn Kurkjian, a graduate student in the Garvy lab and Dr. McGillis, a faculty member in MIMG also contributed to the work. Graduate students in the Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics Program, Ted Cory and Susan Birket, participated in the project under the direction of the study’s senior author, Dr. David Feola, from the Department of Pharmacy Practices and Sciences in the UK College of Pharmacy. Dr. Brian Murphy and medical student Linda Schutzman from the Department of Internal Medicine also assisted in the completion of the project.
Pneumonia is a common complication of pulmonary disease such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or cystic fibrosis. Pulmonary macrophages are immune cells within the lung that play a critical role in the body’s defense against airway infections. The authors of the present study probed the impact of different types of pneumonia-causing pathogens on macrophage function in a mouse model of airway infections. Their results indicate that the type of pathogens present in the lung influence macrophage function as well as their response to subsequent infections. These changes may not only affect the body’s ability to fight infections, but may also contribute to the decline in lung function observed in patients with chronic lung disease.
“This manuscript is the product of a great deal of work by several teams here at UK and sheds new light on the impact of lung pathogens on our body’s defenses against pulmonary infection and the progression of lung disease.” said Greg Graf, Assistant Dean for Translational Research.
We wish to remember and honor those who inhabited this Commonwealth before the arrival of the Europeans. Briefly occupying these lands were the Osage, Wyndott tribe, and Miami peoples. The Adena and Hopewell peoples, who are recognized by the naming of the time period in which they resided here, were here more permanently. Some of their mounds remain in the Lexington area, including at UK’s Adena Park.
In more recent years, the Cherokee occupied southeast Kentucky, the Yuchi southwest Kentucky, the Chickasaw extreme western Kentucky and the Shawnee central Kentucky including what is now the city of Lexington. The Shawnee left when colonization pushed through the Appalachian Mountains. Lower Shawnee Town ceremonial grounds are still visible in Greenup County.
We honor the first inhabitants who were here, respect their culture, and acknowledge the presence of their descendants who are here today in all walks of life including fellow pharmacists and healthcare professionals.