<p>Researcher from Penn State identified a protein compound while working with  lung function of mice with influenza, compound named  GM-CSF - a protein that modifies the immune response to the flu, may also help reduce lung inflammation and improve survival during influenza.</p><p>Researcher E. Scott Halstead said that the results suggested that the GM-CSF could be a potential therapeutic strategy for treating the flu. </p><p>"Influenza can be bad, which this flu season is kind of showing, so we&#039;re always trying to find new strategies to deal with it," Halstead said. </p><blockquote class="style-3"><p> He further noted, "Previous research has shown that mice with naturally higher levels of GM-CSF might be protected from the flu. But in this study, we gave the mice GM-CSF after they got the flu, which is more similar to when a patient gets sick and then you do something to help them. Even after they got the virus, it still helped"</p></blockquote><p>He further noted, "Previous research has shown that mice with naturally higher levels of GM-CSF might be protected from the flu. But in this study, we gave the mice GM-CSF after they got the flu, which is more similar to when a patient gets sick and then you do something to help them. Even after they got the virus, it still helped".</p><p>In the study, the researchers used mice born with a special gene that allows them to create GM-CSF in their lungs when given the antibiotic doxycycline. Three days after giving them influenza, the researchers gave the mice a dose of doxycycline, triggering the production of GM-CSF in the mice&#039;s lungs. </p><p>At 13 days post-infection, 90 percent of the mice with GM-CSF were still alive versus 50 percent of the mice without. </p><p>The study recently published in Journal of Respiratory Research </p><p>News Source/Credit: ANI </p>