Immune System News and Research

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Researchers to receive more than $4.5 million in grants to study Sudden Infant Death Syndrome

Researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed) expect to receive more than $4.5 million in grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act.), including nearly $1 million from the highly competitive Challenge Grant program for a study that seeks to reduce the number of children who die from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, it was announced today.

15 Dec 2009

AIDS develops more rapidly in individuals who express HLA B*35-Px, shows study

Immune proteins called HLA molecules help to activate killer T cell responses against pathogens. But according to a study that will be published online on December 14th in the Journal of Experimental Medicine (www.jem.org), one particular group of HLA molecules cripples this activation, perhaps explaining why HIV-infected individuals who express these HLAs progress to AIDS more rapidly than others.

15 Dec 2009

Modified blood adult stem-cell transplant regimen reverses sickle cell disease

A modified blood adult stem-cell transplant regimen has effectively reversed sickle cell disease in 9 of 10 adults who had been severely affected by the disease, according to results of a National Institutes of Health study in the Dec. 10 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

13 Dec 2009

Clinical trial of 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine

HIV-infected adults currently are being recruited to participate in a clinical trial of 2009 H1N1 influenza vaccine. The study, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health, will enroll approximately 240 men and women between the ages of 18 and 64.

13 Dec 2009

New data suggests bisphosphonate drug may play a role in reducing recurrent breast cancer

Bisphosphonates are routinely given to women with postmenopausal breast cancer, but new data suggests that these agents may play a role in reducing recurrent breast cancer as well.

11 Dec 2009

NCKUH and NHRI sponsor virology lab in Vietnam Children’s Hospital

A Virology Lab in Children’s Hospital No. 1 (CH1), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, sponsored by National Cheng Kung University Hospital (NCKUH) and National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) in Taiwan was launched on November 11th, 2009.

11 Dec 2009

HSMR helps identify sepsis as an area of concern for Canadian hospitals

A new study shows that in 2008-2009 more than 9,300 patients died of sepsis, a condition resulting from the body's response to severe infection, in Canadian hospitals outside Quebec.

11 Dec 2009

NIH awards $14.6M for Eukaryotic Pathogen Genome Database Resource expansion

Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Georgia have been awarded a five-year, $14.6 million contract from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the US National Institutes of Health, to expand and extend work on the Eukaryotic Pathogen Genome Database Resource, http://EuPathDB.org.

11 Dec 2009

Nutritional supplements to strengthen immunity and improve periodontal health

The PA periodontists in Dr. David DiGiallorenzo's Collegeville and Williamsport practice recently began offering two lines of nutritional supplements to patients as a means of promoting the connection between good nutrition and improved periodontal health.

11 Dec 2009

Researchers find weakness in H1N1's method for evading detection by immune system

Researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) have found what they believe is a weakness in H1N1's method for evading detection by the immune system.

11 Dec 2009

Stem cell therapy can be used for LSCD, reports newly published research

Newly published research, by investigators, at the North East England Stem Cell Institute (NESCI) in the journal Stem Cells reported the first successful treatment of eight patients with "Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency" (LSCD) using the patients' own stem cells without the need of suppressing their immunity.

11 Dec 2009

HST Global and HMD team up to develop curriculum for FIT protocol

HST Global, Inc. (OTCBB: HSTC) today announced a Partnership with Dr. James W. Forsythe to facilitate the development of a curriculum for the licensing and/or certification to administer Dr. Forsythe’s immune therapy in clinics to be built or acquired by HST Global, Inc.

11 Dec 2009

Initiation of multi-national Phase III study of Stimuvax announced

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, today announced the initiation of its multi-national Phase III study of the investigational therapeutic cancer vaccine Stimuvax® (BLP25 liposome vaccine) in Asian patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

11 Dec 2009

ARTs safe without routine lab tests, Lancet study finds

A Lancet study published online Tuesday validates the safety of administering first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) to patients with HIV without routine toxicity and efficacy lab tests, "[b]ut tests of immune-system function might still be a good idea to monitor the progression of the disease and guide the second year of treatment," HealthDay/U.S. News & World Report reports. Patients in Africa "often receive [HIV] drug treatment ... without routine laboratory monitoring," according to the article.

10 Dec 2009

Merck commences Stimuvax Phase 3 trial in Asian patients with NSCLC

Oncothyreon Inc. today announced that Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany, has initiated a Phase 3 trial of Stimuvax(R) (BLP25 liposome vaccine) in Asian patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The trial, named INSPIRE (Stimuvax trial In Asian NSCLC Patients: Stimulating Immune Response), is anticipated to enroll approximately 420 patients in China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.

10 Dec 2009

Santa's top 10 holiday health tips

Santa Claus is coming to town - and Christmas eve is the one night that he must be healthy for his madcap, round-the-world dash. Like us, he's under quite a bit of stress this time of year. While we have crowded stores, visiting relatives, and lots of sugary treats that can strain our immune system, he has elves working feverishly round-the-clock, bickering reindeer, millions of letters to read, and frosty winter weather.

10 Dec 2009

Second-quarter fiscal 2010 results announced by Peregrine Pharmaceuticals

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced financial results for the second quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2010 ended October 31, 2009. Total revenue for the second quarter of FY 2010 increased 255% to $6,896,000, compared to $1,941,000 for the comparable prior year quarter.

10 Dec 2009

Promising trial on immunotherapy for preventing childhood cancer recurrence

CHILDREN in the UK with a high risk form of the childhood cancer neuroblastoma are set to benefit from a new international clinical trial - funded by Cancer Research UK - which uses immunotherapy to help prevent the disease from coming back.

10 Dec 2009

Immune-based treatment promising for AD

The results of a new study on immune-based treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), which was conducted at 30 sites around the country, will be published in the December 15 issue of Neurology®. Lead author, Stephen P. Salloway, MD, MS, director of the Butler Hospital Memory and Aging Program and a professor of neurology and psychiatry at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, says that this 18-month phase two study on slowing the disease process in Alzheimer's patients offers promising results.

10 Dec 2009

Social scientists say compassion is humans' strongest trait

Researchers at UC Berkeley are challenging long-held beliefs that human beings are wired to be selfish. In a wide range of studies, social scientists are amassing a growing body of evidence to show we are evolving to become more compassionate and collaborative in our quest to survive and thrive.

10 Dec 2009