Overview

• Children's Hospital of Philadelphia researchers reported the findings August 27 in Science Translational Medicine.
• In mouse models, dietary stearic acid accumulated in lung macrophages and intensified airway inflammation without causing obesity.
• Blocking the cytokine IL-1β or inhibiting the stress-response protein IRE1α protected against stearic acid–driven lung inflammation in preclinical tests.
• By contrast, the monounsaturated fat oleic acid suppressed inflammatory activity in the study’s models.
• Some signals were observed in a small group of obese children with asthma, suggesting targeted dietary changes and potential drug repurposing for evaluation in clinical trials.