Immune System News and Research

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Oral chicken interferon-alpha may significantly reduce influenza infection

Avian influenza virus is a threat to the commercial chicken industry and, with its recent rapid spread across China, has also shown the ability for transmission from chickens to humans and other mammals.

29 Jul 2011

Universal flu vaccine with super antibodies in near future

Researchers are close to developing a “super antibody” against flu that could be used as a universal treatment and pave the way for the development of a universal vaccine against the disease that affects billions of people every year.

29 Jul 2011

Study examines effect of unhealthy food outlets on adolescent junk food consumption

Got lots of fast food restaurants and other outlets that sell junk food in your neighborhood? Then your teen is more likely to nosh regularly on burgers and fries and wash them down with a soda.

28 Jul 2011

Des Moines hospital faces review; $9 million hospital bill in Tampa

In state hospital news, federal regulators have ordered Iowa officials to study the Mercy Medical Center, and Florida officials say a Tampa hospital has filed a $9.2 million claim against the estate of a former patient. In other news, officials begin the process of closing Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

28 Jul 2011

Blueberries can help prevent cell damage linked to cancer

Blueberries are among the nutrient-rich foods being studied by UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center investigators exploring the link between disease and nutrition. Dieticians there say as little as a cup a day can help prevent cell damage linked to cancer.

28 Jul 2011

University of Pittsburgh to honor Synthetic Genomics CEO with Dickson Prize

The scientist-entrepreneur who led efforts to map the first draft of the human genome as well as the complete diploid genome and to construct the first synthetic bacterium has been named this year's recipient of the University of Pittsburgh's Dickson Prize in Medicine.

28 Jul 2011

Dow second quarter sales increase to $16.0 billion

Dow reported earnings of $0.84 per share. This compares with reported earnings of $0.50 per share in the same period last year.

27 Jul 2011

Novel blood-cleaning procedure allows receipt of transplant from different blood type donor

St. Michael's Hospital today became the first in North America to use a novel blood-cleaning procedure for a kidney patient that will allow him to receive a transplant from a donor with a different blood type.

27 Jul 2011

Early initiation of HIV therapy would save money, lives of South Africans

If the South African government followed a recent recommendation by the World Health Organization to start antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-infected residents earlier in the progress of the disease, the policy shift would start saving the country money after 16 years and would extend thousands of lives for dozens of years, according to a new study.

27 Jul 2011

Follow-up dose recommended to defend children against pandemic virus outbreaks

Researchers from Australia determined that pediatric liver transplant patients who received a single-dose of the H1N1 vaccine were not adequately protected against the virus compared to healthy children.

27 Jul 2011

Male sex hormones can protect men from inflammatory diseases

It's all down to the testosterone: men are usually more muscular than women, they have deeper voices and more body hair. And - men are less susceptible to inflammatory diseases and allergies than women. This is also due to the male sex hormones as pharmacists at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena have shown in a recent study.

27 Jul 2011

TikoMed receives FDA Orphan Drug Designation for TM-400 to treat hematological cancers

TikoMed AB, a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative treatments of immune diseases and transplantation therapies, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted TM-400 Orphan Drug Designation for the mobilization of stem cells prior to stem cell transplantation treatment.

26 Jul 2011

UC San Diego receives NHLBI 'Program of Excellence in Glycosciences' grant

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have received a major 7-year, $18 million grant to begin translating emerging discoveries in the field of glycosciences into new discoveries and therapies related to heart, lung and blood diseases.

26 Jul 2011

Diabetes drug rosiglitazone can reduce development of neuropathic pain

The diabetes drug rosiglitazone (Avandia) can control inflammation leading to nerve damage and abnormal pain responses, suggests a paper in the August issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

26 Jul 2011

CRI announces new changes to cancer research funding programs

Cancer Research Institute, Inc. (CRI), a U.S. nonprofit organization established in 1953 to advance the science of tumor immunology and foster the discovery of new cancer immunotherapies, announced today new changes and additions to its research funding programs.

26 Jul 2011

Researchers identify elusive gene responsible for Grey Platelet Syndrome

Researchers have identified an elusive gene responsible for Grey Platelet Syndrome, an extremely rare blood disorder in which only about 50 known cases have been reported. As a result, it is hoped that future cases will be easier to diagnose with a DNA test.

26 Jul 2011

Adaptimmune announces opening of pilot clinical trial in synovial sarcoma

Adaptimmune announced today that it has opened a Pilot, open-label clinical trial in synovial sarcoma at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), Bethesda, Maryland, testing its enhanced T cell receptor T cell therapy. A second site is planned to open later this year at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

25 Jul 2011

When psoriasis strikes the famously beautiful

It appears that psoriasis spares none. Reality TV star Kim Kardashian has been reportedly diagnosed with the skin condition. Her condition was revealed on a recent episode of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” on E!.

25 Jul 2011

Affordable cell transfer therapy for cancers

One of the latest attempts to boost the body's defenses against cancer is called adoptive cell transfer, in which patients receive a therapeutic injection of their own immune cells. This therapy, currently tested in early clinical trials for melanoma and neuroblastoma, has its limitations: Removing immune cells from a patient and growing them outside the body for future re-injection is extremely expensive and not always technically feasible.

25 Jul 2011

Waters receives CE mark for MassTrak Immunosuppressants XE Kit

Waters Corporation (NYSE: WAT) today announced that its MassTrak™ Immunosuppressants XE Kit is now CE-marked in accordance with the IVD Directive 98/79/EC, for the quantitative measurement of the immunosuppressive drugs tacrolimus in liver and kidney transplant patients and everolimus in adult kidney and cardiac transplant patients from human whole blood samples as an aid in the management of immunosuppressant drug therapy.

25 Jul 2011