TNF impairs macrophage killing of Streptococcus pneumoniae
Description: Not everyone ages at the same rate. Some people remain healthy and active until the end of life. Others experience declining health and independence in middle-age. One of the ways in which some people age more poorly than others is in their ability to defend themselves against infections. Some older people seem to be more likely to get pneumonia. Additionally, when adults get pneumonia, they tend to recover less well than children. Many older adults who catch pneumonia develop illnesses such as heart disease after recovery. This makes it important to understand why older adults have an especially hard time defending themselves against pneumonia. We know that people who age poorly have more inflammation than those that age well. As people age, the levels of tumour necrosis factor (TNF) in their blood tend to increase. TNF is a major chemical messenger responsible for causing inflammation. Older adults with high levels of TNF in their blood are more likely to catch pneumonia. People with high blood TNF levels are also more likely to admit to the ICU or die after being hospitalised for pneumonia. We know that TNF worsens the ability of immune cells called macrophages to destroy the bacteria that causes pneumonia. The purpose of this project is to explore how inflammation and TNF impair macrophage function. We aim to determine if we can target TNF to improve older adults' responses to infections. The second aim of this project is to understand whether the higher TNF levels in men explain why they catch and die from pneumonia more than women.
Amount: CA$115,000
Funding type: fellowship
Funder scheme: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships
Start date: 2023-09-01
End date: 2026-08-31
Investigator: Kevin Zhao
Institution: McMaster University
Funded outputs count: 0
Funder award ID: 187471_1
OpenAlex ID: G3491482129