{"id":206657,"date":"2025-02-17T23:06:52","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T05:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/immune-system-regulated-by-fluoxetine-to-fight-infections-and-sepsis-in-mice"},"modified":"2025-02-17T23:06:52","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T05:06:52","slug":"immune-system-regulated-by-fluoxetine-to-fight-infections-and-sepsis-in-mice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2025\/02\/immune-system-regulated-by-fluoxetine-to-fight-infections-and-sepsis-in-mice","title":{"rendered":"Immune System Regulated by Fluoxetine to Fight Infections and Sepsis in Mice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/immune-system-regulated-by-fluoxetine-to-fight-infections-and-sepsis-in-mice.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants are some of the most widely prescribed drugs in the world, and new research suggests they could also protect against serious infections and life-threatening sepsis. Scientists at the Salk Institute studying a mouse model of sepsis uncovered how the SSRI fluoxetine can regulate the immune system and defend against infectious disease, and found that this protection is independent to peripheral serotonin. The findings could encourage additional research into the potential therapeutic uses of SSRIs during infection.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen treating an infection, the optimal treatment strategy would be one that kills the bacteria or virus while also protecting our tissues and organs,\u201d commented professor Janelle Ayres, PhD, holder of the Salk Institute Legacy Chair and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. \u201cMost medications we have in our toolbox kill pathogens, but we were thrilled to find that fluoxetine can protect tissues and organs, too. It\u2019s essentially playing offense <em>and<\/em> defense, which is ideal, and especially exciting to see in a drug that we already know is safe to use in humans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ayres is senior author of the team\u2019s report in <em>Science Advances<\/em>. In their paper, titled \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1126\/sciadv.adu4034\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Fluoxetine promotes IL-10\u2013dependent metabolic defenses to protect from sepsis-induced lethality<\/a>,\u201d the investigators stated, \u201cOur work reveals a beneficial \u2018off-target\u2019 effect of fluoxetine, and reveals a protective immunometabolic defense mechanism with therapeutic potential.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants are some of the most widely prescribed drugs in the world, and new research suggests they could also protect against serious infections and life-threatening sepsis. Scientists at the Salk Institute studying a mouse model of sepsis uncovered how the SSRI fluoxetine can regulate the immune system and defend against [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-206657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206657\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}