Immune System News and Research

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MGH initiates trial to reverse type 1 diabetes

Scientists at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have initiated a phase 1 clinical trial to reverse type 1 diabetes.

14 Mar 2008

Vitamin D supplements in early childhood cut adult diabetes risk

Vitamin D supplements in early childhood may ward off the development of type 1 diabetes in later life, reveals a research review published ahead of print in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

14 Mar 2008

Vitamin D supplements in early childhood reduces the adult diabetes risk

Scientists in Britain have found that vitamin D supplements may reduce the risk of developing type 1 diabetes.

13 Mar 2008

Researchers find cause of severe allergic reaction to cetuximab

Clinicians have been perplexed by the fact that some patients given the drug cetuximab - an immune-based therapy commonly used to treat persons diagnosed with head and neck cancer, or colon cancer - have a severe and rapid adverse reaction to the drug.

13 Mar 2008

Mathematical model of malaria transmission will help with eradication

Scientists at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), in Portugal, have shown that Malaria eradication in Africa is sustainable, and any re-emergence of malaria in industrialized nations is highly unlikely.

13 Mar 2008

Caspase-12: MUHC researcher finds new defense mechanism against intestinal inflammation

The body's first line of defence against pathogenic bacteria that we ingest may not be the immune system but rather the cells that line the intestine.

13 Mar 2008

Nuclear protein SATB1 triggers aggressive breast cancer

SATB1 is a nuclear protein well known for its crucial role in regulating gene expression during the differentiation and activation of T cells, making it a key player in the immune system.

13 Mar 2008

Specialized natural killer cells in human tonsils help protect against Epstein Barr virus

Tonsils are a source of sore throats and an excuse for ice cream. But they also provide an important protective service, their immune-cell-rich tissue acting as the body's first defense against the germs about to be swallowed or inhaled.

12 Mar 2008

New behavioral risk factors for head and neck cancers

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have teased out two distinct sets of risk factors for head and neck cancers, suggesting that there are two completely different kinds of the disease.

12 Mar 2008

Anadis licenses antibody technologies from ImmuCell

Anadis Limited, an Australian-based biotechnology company focused on milk derived polyclonal antibodies and other milk-derived bioactives, announced today that it had signed a final agreement with ImmuCell Corporation, a biotechnology company headquartered in Portland, Maine, USA.

11 Mar 2008

Snakes vault past toxic newts in evolutionary arms race

Snakes don't eat fugu, the seafood delicacy prepared from blowfish meat and famed for its poisonous potential.

11 Mar 2008

Survival rates for patients for with non-Hodgkin lymphoma improved over past decade

Five- and 10-year survival rates for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma appear to have increased from the 1990s to the early 21st century, according to a report in the March 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

11 Mar 2008

Japanese find way to make flu vaccine effective for multiple strains

Japanese scientists say they are well on the way to developing influenza vaccines which are effective for multiple strains of the disease, including strains of the bird flu virus.

11 Mar 2008

Peptoids as new class of antibiotic drugs

Drug-resistant bacterial infections are a growing concern, and much research has been devoted to finding new classes of antibiotics to fight them.

10 Mar 2008

New rapid blood test for tuberculosis

A new blood test could enable doctors to rule out tuberculosis (TB) infection within days rather than weeks, according to a new study published this week in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

10 Mar 2008

Fugitive cancer cells can be blocked by stopping blood cells that aid them

Cancer cells get a helping hand from platelets, specialized blood cells involved in clotting.

10 Mar 2008

Once-a-week arthritis pill significantly reduces the risk of heart attacks

A once-a-week pill to treat rheumatoid arthritis significantly reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke for people with the painful joint condition.

10 Mar 2008

Exercise doesn't stop the clock on aging, but it seems to slow it down

Evidence continues to mount that exercise provides many benefits to help people look and feel younger. The March issue of Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource offers a recap of the many benefits of regular exercise.

6 Mar 2008

ISG15 protein inhibits Ebola from reaching out to infect neighboring cells

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have identified a protein, ISG15, that inhibits the Ebola virus from budding, the process by which viruses escape from cells and spread to infect neighboring cells.

6 Mar 2008

New malaria drug also treats toxoplasmosis

A new drug that will soon enter clinical trials for treatment of malaria also appears to be 10 times more effective than the key medicine in the current gold-standard treatment for toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by a related parasite that infects nearly one-third of all humans—more than two billion people worldwide.

6 Mar 2008