Interleukin 6 News and Research

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Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the "IL6" gene. IL-6 is an interleukin that acts as both a pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine. It is secreted by T cells and macrophages to stimulate immune response to trauma, especially burns or other tissue damage leading to inflammation.

Gene variations predispose mestizo Mexican population to develop severe form of COPD

A study by Ramcés Falfán-Valencia, researcher at the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases, found that the mestizo Mexican population has a number of variations in certain genes that predispose them to develop the most severe form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

19 Dec 2014

BRI signs license agreement with SOBI for Kineret (anakinra)

Baylor Research Institute, the research arm of the Baylor Scott & White Health, announced that it has signed an agreement with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (Sobi) to non-exclusively license Baylor's patents pertaining to the treatment of Systemic Onset Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (SJIA or SOJIA) using interleukin-1 (IL-1) beta antagonists.

6 Dec 2014

Persistent eosinophilia common in COPD

More than one-third of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have persistent eosinophilia, researchers report in the European Respiratory Journal.

27 Nov 2014

Research: HD-IL2 can be effective in mRCC patients pre-treated with VEGF-targeted agents

High-dose interleukin-2 can be effective in selected metastatic renal cell cancer patients pre-treated with VEGF-targeted agents, reveals research presented today at the ESMO Symposium on Immuno-Oncology in Geneva, Switzerland.

24 Nov 2014

NUS researchers make breakthrough discovery that could lead to future treatment for multiple sclerosis

A multi-disciplinary research team from the National University of Singapore has made a breakthrough discovery of a new type of immune cells that may help in the development of a future treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS).

24 Nov 2014

Researchers find drug combination that reduces risk of skin graft rejection

A research team bringing together José Cohen and Philippe Grimbert (Inserm Unit 955/Université Paris Est Créteil [UPEC] and the Centre for Clinical Investigation - Biotherapies 504 [CIC-BT 504]), and their collaborators at Institut Curie and AP-HP (George Pompidou European Hospital) has succeeded in finding a combination of drugs that reduces the risk of rejection following a skin graft.

19 Nov 2014

Bacterial protein flagellin can prevent and cure rotavirus infection

Activation of the innate immune system with the bacterial protein flagellin could prevent and cure rotavirus infection, which is among the most common causes of severe diarrhea, says a Georgia State University research team that described the method as a novel means to prevent and treat viral infection.

14 Nov 2014

UCLA study: Asthma harms more than just the lungs, may be more harmful than previously thought

Asthma may be more harmful than was previously thought, according to UCLA researchers who found that genetic damage is present in circulating, or peripheral, blood. Doctors previously thought that the genetic damage it caused was limited to the lungs.

5 Nov 2014

Study reports IL-37's activity in the adaptive immune system

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in this month's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes the activity of a recently discovered communication molecule of the body's immune system, Interleukin 37 or IL-37. It has been known to limit inflammation and the current study reports its activity in the adaptive immune system: IL-37 inhibits the ability of the immune system to recognize and target new antigens.

4 Nov 2014

Insufficient Th1 polarisation blocks RCC vaccine efficacy

A lack of a clinical response to an allogenic gene-modified renal cell cancer vaccine may be due to insufficient type 1 T-helper cell polarisation, show results of a gene expression profiling study.

30 Oct 2014

UMass Amherst epidemiologist investigates risk of early menopause

The estimated 10 percent of women in Western nations who enter menopause before age 45 have an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease, as well as lower fertility. Now epidemiologist Elizabeth Bertone-Johnson at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is conducting the first large study to investigate whether vitamin D deficiency, inflammatory factors, hormones and other factors are associated with risk of early menopause, funded by NIH.

29 Oct 2014

Study reveals that people with stress-related inflammation may suffer from depression

Preexisting differences in the sensitivity of a key part of each individual's immune system to stress confer a greater risk of developing stress-related depression or anxiety, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published October 20 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

21 Oct 2014

New oral biologic medication successfully treats precancerous intestinal inflammation

An oral biologic medication has successfully treated chronic, precancerous inflammation in the intestine, according to results of an animal study authored by an MD/PhD student in the University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

16 Oct 2014

$Researchers reveal gene variants that delay fracture healing$

Researchers reveal gene variants that delay fracture healing

Slow-healing or non-healing bone fractures in otherwise healthy people may be caused by gene variants that are common in the population, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

15 Oct 2014

Sleeping with dentures increases pneumonia risk in elderly

Poor oral health and hygiene are increasingly recognized as major risk factors for pneumonia among the elderly. To identify modifiable oral health-related risk factors, lead researcher Toshimitsu Iinuma, Nihon University School of Dentistry, Japan, and a team of researchers prospectively investigated associations between a constellation of oral health behaviors and incidences of pneumonia in the community-living of elders 85 years of age or older.

8 Oct 2014

Diet may influence susceptibility to autoinflammatory bone disease in at-risk individuals

Diet-induced changes in the gut's bacterial ecosystem can alter susceptibility to an autoinflammatory bone disease by modifying the immune response, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists reported. The findings appeared September 28 as an advanced online publication of the scientific journal Nature.

3 Oct 2014

Animal study suggests ibuprofen can reduce lung inflammation in elderly

New research shows that the lungs become more inflammatory with age and that ibuprofen can lower that inflammation.

3 Oct 2014

Early detection of cancers on the horizon with supersensitive nanodevice

Extremely early detection of cancers and other diseases is on the horizon with a supersensitive nanodevice being developed at The University of Alabama in Huntsville in collaboration with The Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering in Greensboro, NC.

29 Sep 2014

Weight cycling linked to relapse-prone bipolar course

Patients with bipolar disorder are more likely than healthy controls to have a history of weight cycling, which in turn is associated with an increased likelihood of manic and depressive episodes, researchers report.

25 Sep 2014

Tissue-level model of human airway musculature could pave way for patient-specific asthma treatments

The majority of drugs used to treat asthma today are the same ones that were used 50 years ago. New drugs are urgently needed to treat this chronic respiratory disease, which causes nearly 25 million people in the United States alone to wheeze, cough, and find it difficult at best to take a deep breath.

24 Sep 2014