Influenza antibodies (IMAGE) Stanford Medicine Caption Sialic acid (blue links) at the end of sugar chains attached to antibodies (red) induce the antibodies to bind to receptors (light blue) that promote an anti-inflammatory response in alveolar macrophages. When sialic acid is absent, the sugar chains attach to receptors (yellow) that promote inflammation, exacerbating the severity of the flu. Credit Emily Moskal/Stanford Medicine Usage Restrictions The illustration must be credited Emily Moskal/Stanford Medicine. It may be used only in an editorial manner and not for any commercial, promotional, endorsement, advertising or merchandising purpose. It may be used only in conjunction with a story about the research described in this article. License Original content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.