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Severe cases of Covid-19 have been known to lead to a mysterious condition whereby the body's immune system goes haywire and starts attacking healthy cells, rather than just those that are infected. This prolonged state of self-sabotage is known as a 'cytokine storm' and can be fatal, but researchers have struggled to understand how it works and how to treat it. Now new research has looked at the progression of a coronavirus infection in mice and found the cytokine storm is a vicious cycle, which leads to the overproduction of two signalling proteins called tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and interferon...

A study was carried out to examine the extent to which quercetin and trans-resveratrol (RSV) prevented inflammation or insulin resistance in primary cultures of human adipocytes treated with tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a)—an inflammatory cytokine elevated in the plasma and adipose tissue of obese, diabetic individuals. Cultures of human adipocytes were pretreated with quercetin and trans-RSV followed by treatment with TNF-a. Subsequently, gene and protein markers of inflammation and insulin resistance were measured. The authors report that quercetin, and to a lesser extent trans-RSV, attenuated the TNF-a–induced expression of inflammatory genes such as interleukin (IL)-6, IL-1b, IL-8, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1...

Poor bone fracture healing could be next on the list of conditions linked to diabetes, U.S. researchers say. The report, published in the American Journal of Pathology, suggests those with diabetes may have increased production of an inflammatory molecule known as TNF that causes bone fractures to heal more slowly and less satisfactorily. Dr. Dana Graves and colleagues of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark and the Boston University School of Medicine looked at bone repair in a mouse model of diabetes. The researchers find increased levels of inflammatory molecules, particularly TNF-alpha and a mediator...