A study with 48 human participants found a biological process that stops inflammation. The discovery could lead to new treatments for chronic illnesses.
Inflammation is a good thing. It’s the body’s first defense against infection and injury. However, if the inflammation doesn’t stop and just continues, it can cause serious medical concerns. Researchers knew that the immune system had to have signals that indicated when to stop fighting and move on to repairing the damage. But those signals were unknown. If they could learn more, they could learn to turn off inflammation.
The scientists learned that molecules called epoxy-oxylipins act as brakes for inflammation. They prevent the buildup of an immune cell called intermediate monocytes that can prolong inflammatory activity in the body.
“Our findings reveal a natural pathway that limits harmful immune cell expansion and helps calm inflammation more quickly,” said first author Dr Olivia Bracken of University College London. “Targeting this mechanism could lead to safer treatments that restore immune balance without suppressing overall immunity. With chronic inflammation ranked as a major global health threat, this discovery opens a promising avenue for new therapies.”
The team triggered inflammation in 48 healthy people by injecting them with dead E. coli. The bacteria still caused a short-term reaction of pain, swelling, redness and heat, despite being dead. Then they were treated with a drug that increased epoxy-oxylipins. But they were split into two groups. One group was given injections of the medication two hours before inflammation. The other was given the injection four hours after inflammation had started. In both groups, there was a control group that received a placebo injection.
The people who received the drug, regardless of when they got it, helped the pain diminish faster and lowered the amount of intermediate monocytes in the blood. The drug didn’t impact how much swelling and redness a person had.
The study took blood tests and tissue samples over three days. They saw that the drug kept the “brakes” on the system longer but didn’t interfere with the initial inflammation response. That means the drug didn’t hamper how the body fought the initial attack on the body. They also found that the natural inflammation system (when working correctly) peaks at 14 hours. Then the body transitions from fighting to healing.
While we often report on animal studies that could be relevant in the future, this is different. This is a human study that used a drug already approved for humans.
Corresponding author Prof. Derek Gilroy of UCL said, “This was an entirely human-based study with direct relevance to autoimmune diseases, as we used a drug already suitable for human use – one that could be repurposed to treat flares in chronic inflammatory conditions, an area currently bereft of effective therapies.”
