Researchers from the University of Zurich discovered that medications like Tamiflu or Relenza, which are typically used to treat influenza, could be taken to prevent the excessive formation of E. coli and, therefore, disease symptoms.
The overproduction of E. coli in the gut, which causes diarrhea or intestinal inflammation, can be attributed to the availability of sialic acid, found in the proteins of the intestinal mucosa, they discovered. To use sialic acid to multiply, E. coli uses the enzyme sialidase, released by other intestinal bacteria.
From there, the researchers discovered that when people take a sialidase inhibitor, the E. coli can't multiply excessively and therefore the disease symptoms were alleviated. Flu-fighting medications serve as sialidase inhibitors.
"Derivatives of known flu agents such as Tamiflu and Relenza could therefore also be used for inflammatory intestinal diseases, which opens up new therapeutic possibilities," said Thierry Hennet, a professor from the University of Zurich.