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Antiinflammatory drug HUMIRA enhances specific TNF function in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Researchers from University College London have discovered that the widely used antiinflammatory drug HUMIRA doesn't just work by inhibiting its target protein, TNF, but by enhancing a particular function of TNF in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

7 Jun 2016

Japanese scientists find evidence that cytokine IL-17A plays crucial role in psoriasis

Psoriasis is an inflammatory skin condition that affects some 125 million people worldwide. It is characterized by itchy, scaly skin plaques. The exact cause of psoriasis is unclear.

25 May 2016

Maintaining balance of P1 and P2 isoforms vital for reducing colon cancer, colitis risk

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), of which Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are the main types, is on the increase in the United States, affecting more than 1.6 million people and explaining perhaps the increase in advertisements offering treatments and cures.

18 May 2016

Diets rich in fruits and vegetables can help prevent chronic inflammation

A new study by the University of Liverpool's Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease has identified food stuffs that can help prevent chronic inflammation that contributes to many leading causes of death.

17 May 2016

Study shows inhibition of SHP-2 enzyme can diminish lupus symptoms

Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have identified an enzyme that is significantly elevated in mouse models of systemic lupus erythematosus and in blood samples of patients with lupus.

17 May 2016

Research shows spleen MZ B cells produce signaling proteins involved in inflammatory responses

The inability to adequately respond to infection can cause a whole-body state of inflammation known as sepsis. This can eventually lead to systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), and even death.

9 May 2016

Study sheds light on development of ILCs that play vital role in body's immune defense

Through the use of powerful genomic techniques, researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases have found that the development of immune cells, called innate lymphoid cells (ILCs), gradually prepares these cells for rapid response to infection. This work, which appeared online today in Cell, sheds light on the development and function of a cell type that is increasingly recognized as having an important role in the body's immune defense. NIAMS is part of the National Institutes of Health.

6 May 2016

Researchers discover new function of genes in Fanconi anemia pathway

Researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Center have identified an important new function of genes in the Fanconi anemia pathway - a finding that could have implications for development of new therapies to treat this disorder and some cancers.

3 May 2016

Addition of L19-IL2 can increase radiation therapy-induced immune response against tumours

Radiation therapy not only kills cancer cells, but also helps to activate the immune system against their future proliferation. However, this immune response is often not strong enough to be able to cure tumours, and even when it is, its effect is limited to the area that has been irradiated.

2 May 2016

Lilly's ixekizumab (Taltz) granted EC marketing authorisation for treatment of plaque psoriasis

Eli Lilly and Company announced today that the European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for ixekizumab (Taltz) for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adults in the European Union (EU) who are candidates for systemic therapy.

27 Apr 2016

Newly published manuscripts enhance understanding of the immune system

MedImmune, the global biologics research and development arm of AstraZeneca, today announced that it has achieved a significant scientific milestone by publishing three manuscripts in Nature Immunology that advance the understanding of the immune system and highlight underlying mechanisms in two little-understood disease areas -- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

26 Apr 2016

Study reveals how visceral fat contributes to insulin resistance, inflammation

Researchers have long-known that visceral fat - the kind that wraps around the internal organs - is more dangerous than subcutaneous fat that lies just under the skin around the belly, thighs and rear. But how visceral fat contributes to insulin resistance and inflammation has remained unknown.

26 Apr 2016

TNF-alpha protein involved in autoimmune diseases may also promote tissue healing

As its name suggests, inflammatory bowel disease, which afflicts more than 1.6 million Americans, involves chronic inflammation of all or some of the digestive tract. An autoimmune disease known to have a strong genetic component, its symptoms are abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea, and fever and, sometimes, weight loss. IBD, which is a group of inflammatory conditions, includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

21 Apr 2016

LAP defects may lead to lupus-like autoimmune disorder

A casual observation about size differences in mice has led to the discovery that defects in a process for digesting dead cells called LC3-associated phagocytosis (LAP) may lead to a lupus-like autoimmune disorder. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists led the research, which appears as an advance online publication today in the scientific journal Nature.

21 Apr 2016

Pre-TKI cytokine profiling predicts CP-CML outcome

Measuring levels of transforming growth factor-α and interleukin-6 may help identify patients with newly diagnosed chronic phase-chronic myeloid leukaemia at risk of a poor outcome from tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy, research suggests.

20 Apr 2016

Penn researchers report results of CAR therapy trial in brain cancer patients

Immune cells engineered to seek out and attack a type of deadly brain cancer known as glioblastoma (GBM) were found to have an acceptable safety profile and successfully migrate to and infiltrate tumors, researchers from Penn Medicine and Harvard University reported at the AACR Annual Meeting 2016.

19 Apr 2016

M10 peptide could help protect systemic sclerosis patients against fibrotic damage

The results of preclinical studies by investigators at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) reported in the April 2016 issue of Translational Research suggest that the M10 peptide could help protect against fibrotic damage in patients with systemic sclerosis, particularly in those who develop interstitial lung diseases (ILD), its deadliest complication.

15 Apr 2016

Cell-signaling protein holds key to understanding autoantibody formation in lupus patients

A signaling molecule called interferon gamma could hold the key to understanding how harmful autoantibodies form in lupus patients. The finding could lead to new treatments for the chronic autoimmune disease, said researchers at Penn State College of Medicine.

12 Apr 2016

CRPS rank higher on pain scales than childbirth, cancer, amputation

Imagine pain in an arm or leg so intense that the sufferer would rather undergo an amputation than put up with it any longer. For those with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), this is not just a hypothetical nightmare—it is reality.

25 Mar 2016

Targeted therapies suppress T cell activity that could actually help fight tumors

In many cases, targeted therapies for cancer are preferred as treatments over chemotherapy and surgery because they attack and kill cancer cells with specific tumor-promoting mutations while sparing healthy, normal cells that do not express these mutations.

23 Mar 2016