Immune System News and Research

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Should we be screening blood for hepatisi G?

Hepatitis G virus was identified in 1995. Some little research was carried out on the virus and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared it a non-harmful virus in 1997. Researchers in Saudi Arabia, writing in the International Journal of Immunological Studies present evidence to suggest that this may have been the wrong decision.

22 Aug 2011

No effective treatment yet for acute lung injury

Patients can essentially drown in their own fluids when trauma and infection prompt blood vessels to leak, flooding millions of air sacs in their lungs.

22 Aug 2011

Micro-organisms hide themselves from immune defences

That micro-organisms have a great capacity to vary their surface structure is well known. It is one of the reasons why it is so difficult to develop vaccines against HIV and malaria, and why new influenza vaccines have to be produced every year. But it seems that these micro-organisms are also able to completely avoid activating a strong immune response in the person attacked.

22 Aug 2011

Tiny molecule could bind to B cell EB12 receptor and prevent cancer

Infection with Epstein Barr means that the B cells, which are the primary memory cells of the immune system, are hi-jacked. When the virus has penetrated, researchers observe an excess of a special bio-antenna, a receptor known as EB12, suddenly sprouting from the surface of the B cells. But why they do so remains a mystery.

22 Aug 2011

Research uncovers natural defense mechanism that inactivates C. diff toxins

Groundbreaking research encompassing Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, has uncovered a natural defense mechanism that is capable of inactivating the toxin that spreads Clostridium difficile, or C. diff, an increasingly common bacterial infection in hospitals and long-term care settings.

22 Aug 2011

Radiolabeled protein reveals presence of S. aureus endocarditis in mouse model

A novel imaging probe developed by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigators may make it possible to diagnose accurately a dangerous infection of the heart valves.

22 Aug 2011

Winter airway infections appear to trigger narcolepsy: Study

The onset of narcolepsy appears to follow seasonal patterns of H1N1 and other upper airway infections, according to a new study of patients in China that was led by Stanford University School of Medicine narcolepsy expert Emmanuel Mignot, MD.

22 Aug 2011

Research on why and how malaria parasites go undetected in the placenta of pregnant women

Collaborative research between LSTM and the University of Copenhagen, published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, have answered a long standing mystery, why and how malaria parasites go unnoticed by the immune defences of pregnant mothers.

20 Aug 2011

Emory team identifies conditions that make memory T cells slip away during chronic infections

After recovering from the flu or another acute infection, your immune system is ready to react quickly if you run into the same virus again. White blood cells called memory T cells develop during the infection and help the immune system remember the virus and attack it if it comes back.

19 Aug 2011

Single-molecule imaging reveals how cells prepare to interact with biochemical signals

Researchers at Harvard Medical School have discovered that structural elements in the cell play a crucial role in organizing the motion of cell-surface receptors, proteins that enable cells to receive signals from other parts of the organism.

19 Aug 2011

Conference to discuss latest research on gender disparities in cardiovascular disease

Heart disease has sometimes been considered a men's health issue, but the statistics prove otherwise. In the US alone, more than 42 million women live with the problem. Heart disease is responsible for more than one-third of deaths among American women each year, making it the number one killer of females older than 20.

19 Aug 2011

Researchers demonstrate a way to control excitation and contraction in cardiac muscle cells

By employing optogenetics, a new field that uses genetically altered cells to respond to light, and a tandem unit cell (TCU) strategy, researchers at Stony Brook University have demonstrated a way to control cell excitation and contraction in cardiac muscle cells, the details of which are published in the early online edition of Circulation: Arrhythmia & Electrophysiology: "Stimulating Cardiac Muscle by Light: Cardiac Optogenetics by Cell Delivery."

19 Aug 2011

Antigen Express provides update on ongoing AE37 Phase 2 trial in breast cancer

Generex Biotechnology Corporation announced today that the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary Antigen Express, Inc. presented an update of the ongoing Phase 2 trial with an off-the-shelf immunotherapeutic cancer vaccine, AE37, in patients with breast cancer at Cambridge Healthtech Institute's Sixth Annual ImVacS: The Immunotherapeutics and Vaccine Summit held August 16-18, 2011 in Cambridge, MA.

19 Aug 2011

Medical research funding boost in UK

Health researchers in Cambridge have been awarded £114.5m to develop and translate new scientific discoveries into medicines and treatments. The funds come as a part of a five-year £800m investment by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

18 Aug 2011

Insight into how HIV reservoirs may form

Much like cities organize contingency plans and supplies for emergencies, chronic infectious diseases like HIV form reservoirs that ensure their survival in adverse conditions. But these reservoirs-small populations of viruses or bacteria of a specific type that persist despite attack by the immune system or drug treatment-are not always well understood.

18 Aug 2011

Premera, Cord Blood America partner to offer discount on stem cell collection services

Cord Blood America, Inc. today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Premera Blue Cross, a leading health plan provider with operations in Mountlake Terrace, Seattle and Spokane, Washington, and Anchorage, Alaska, and more than 1.4 million members, to store umbilical cord blood at a discounted rate consistent with other Blue Cross licensee contracts.

18 Aug 2011