Immune System News and Research

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New drug targets main culprit in common colds

The Melbourne drug company Biota has announced trials of a drug to treat the human rhinovirus (HRV) which is the main culprit in the common cold.

12 Aug 2008

GSK begins shipments of Fluarix and FluLaval to U.S. customers for 2008-2009 flu season

GlaxoSmithKline has announced that it will begin shipment of Flulaval [Influenza Virus Vaccine] and Fluarix [Influenza Virus Vaccine] to U.S. customers for the 2008-2009 influenza season.

11 Aug 2008

Low vitamin D levels substantially increase risk of death

Researchers at Johns Hopkins are reporting what is believed to be the most conclusive evidence to date that inadequate levels of vitamin D, obtained from milk, fortified cereals and exposure to sunlight, lead to substantially increased risk of death.

11 Aug 2008

NanoViricides reports HIVCide-I significantly superior to current anti-HIV three drug cocktail standard

NanoViricides, Inc. said that additional biological tests and data analysis have shown that animals treated with its lead anti-HIV drug candidate, HIVCide-I, demonstrated a substantially greater reduction in viral load -- number of infectious virus particles per milliliter of blood -- when compared to the animals given the anti-HIV "combo cocktail" in a preliminary animal study. An important objective of anti-HIV treatment is to minimize the viral load.

11 Aug 2008

Early treatment key to combating hepatitis C virus

Canadian researchers have shown that patients who receive early treatment for Hepatitis C virus (HCV) within the first months following an infection, develop a rapid poly-functional immune response against HCV similar to when infection is erradicted spontaneously, according to a new study published in the Journal of Virology.

10 Aug 2008

RNAi used to dramatically suppress HIV infection in an organism

Hopes languished last September when a promising candidate HIV vaccine failed to work. Despite this setback, many researchers still believe immunization is possible, and a new study suggests they're correct-at least at the cellular level.

10 Aug 2008

Testosterone and disease transmission

High levels of testosterone may be a key factor in spreading disease among mice, according to biologists. The findings could help explain why males in a population are often more likely to get infected, and transmit disease.

10 Aug 2008

Rituximab significantly reduces kidney injury in membranous nephropathy

The drug rituximab causes considerable kidney injury healing in patients with membranous nephropathy, a common form of kidney disease, according to a study appearing in the November 2008 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN).

6 Aug 2008

Use of cleaning products during pregnancy increases risk of asthma in offspring

A Brunel University researcher suggests that chemicals in household cleaning products explains why excessive hygiene is linked to increased asthma and allergies.

6 Aug 2008

Findings may aid in bone marrow transplants, blood diseases

New research sheds light on the biological events by which stem cells in the bone marrow develop into the broad variety of cells that circulate in the blood. The findings may help improve the success of bone marrow transplants and develop better treatments for life-threatening blood diseases.

5 Aug 2008

Happiness makes you live longer

Happiness does not heal, but happiness protects against falling ill. As a result, happy people live longer. The size of the effect on longevity is comparable to that of smoking or not. This is concluded from an analysis of 30 follow-up studies published in the latest issue of the Journal of Happiness Studies (September 2008).

5 Aug 2008

Revolutionary technique that could reduce lifelong drugs for transplant patients shows promising findings

Researchers have developed a ground-breaking procedure that could avoid the need for transplant patients to spend the rest of their lives taking a cocktail of drugs to stop their system from rejecting their new organ, according to a series of papers in the August issue of Transplant International.

5 Aug 2008

High dose shot of vitamin C halts the spread of cancer

According to scientists in the U.S., a high dose of vitamin C given in the form of an injection may halt the spread of cancers.

4 Aug 2008

Bionor Immuno trials new innovative therapeutic immunization designed to help existing HIV and AIDS patients

Bionor Immuno today announced that it has advanced its efforts to develop the first HIV therapeutic immunization with the dosing of patients in a global Phase 2b clinical trial of the company's lead candidate (Vacc-4x).

4 Aug 2008

Vitamin C injections slow tumor growth in mice

High-dose injections of vitamin C, also known as ascorbate or ascorbic acid, reduced tumor weight and growth rate by about 50 percent in mouse models of brain, ovarian, and pancreatic cancers, researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) report in the August 5, 2008, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

4 Aug 2008

A new target for malaria drugs

The malaria parasite has waged a successful guerrilla war against the human immune system for eons, but a study in this week's Journal of Biological Chemistry has exposed one of the tricks malaria uses to hide from the immune proteins, which may aid in future drug development.

4 Aug 2008

First NY to LA living-donor transplant chain results in three lifesaving kidney transplants at UCLA

The lives of three Los Angeles-area kidney transplant patients were transformed by one of the West Coast's first three-way living donor kidney transplant chains, made possible through the generosity of a non-directed, altruistic kidney donor from New York City -- announced today at a joint news conference.

4 Aug 2008

Targeted action on HIV and tuberculosis needed to reach drug users

Health and criminal justice authorities need to provide targeted services to drug users, especially those who inject drugs, to prevent and treat tuberculosis (TB) and HIV. TB is a major cause of death for people living with HIV, but drug users who are HIV-positive face stigma, discrimination and barriers to accessing life-saving treatments.

4 Aug 2008

Immune system protein accurate predictor of survival in pediatric septic shock

About 4,000 children in the United States die every year from uncontrolled infections of the body known as septic shock, and researchers are pushing the boundaries of molecular science to find new therapies that can stem the condition. But a simple measure of an immune system protein within 24 hours of being admitted to the hospital for septic shock can predict survival in children, yielding a powerful tool for diagnostics and clinical trials of new septic shock therapies, according to a research team led by Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center in the Aug. 1 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

4 Aug 2008

Immunotherapy shows promise in high-risk pediatric sarcomas

Based on a pilot study in children with sarcoma, researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) believe that immunotherapy could prove beneficial in treating high-risk forms of this cancer.

3 Aug 2008