Macrophage News and Research

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A macrophage is a type of white blood cell that surrounds and kills microorganisms, removes dead cells, and stimulates the action of other immune system cells.

Coronary heart disease: Spotting the culprit(s) is the way towards prevention

A Public Lecture at Bristol University to rise awareness on a socially relevant still belittled disease

24 Sep 2007

Air pollutants and blood clotting link

Air pollution is caused by any particulate matter, chemical, or biological agent that changes the natural characteristics of the atmosphere.

21 Sep 2007

Study looks at Atorvastatin and cholesterol

Scientists report in the October issue of the Journal of Lipid Research new details about how a drug used against heart disease helps to unclog blood vessels from an excess of cholesterol and fats.

18 Sep 2007

Potential solution to Candida parapsilosis infection

Infection with the fungus Candida parapsilosis is a major problem for individuals in intensive care units, as well as for premature infants and immunocompromised adults.

13 Sep 2007

Platelets help white blood cells fight inflammation

Scientists have shown for the first time that platelets, the cells needed for blood clotting, help white blood cells called neutrophils fight inflammation.

13 Sep 2007

IDM Pharma receives not approvable letter for Mifamurtide for treatment of osteosarcoma

IDM Pharma, Inc. ( NASDAQ:IDMI ) announced today that it received a not approvable letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after completing the review of the new drug application (NDA) for the investigational drug mifamurtide (L-MTP-PE), formerly known as Junovan, for the treatment of non-metastatic osteosarcoma, a rare and often fatal bone tumor that typically affects children and young adults.

28 Aug 2007

New findings on cholesterol metabolism

A team of researchers investigating cholesterol and lipid transport has performed experiments that cast serious doubt on the dominant hypothesis of how the body rids its cells of "bad" cholesterol (LDL) and increases "good" cholesterol (HDL).

17 Aug 2007

Possible anthrax drug targets

In the American government's biodefense efforts, the potential for terrorists to cause a deadly anthrax outbreak remains a significant concern, six years after the letter attacks that shook the nation shortly after 9/11.

3 Aug 2007

Vaccines for tuberculosis

The microorganism that causes tuberculosis, M. Tuberculosis, infects more than a one third of the world's population.

2 Aug 2007

IDM Pharma plans to amend NDA for Mifamurtide (L-MTP-PE) for the treatment of osteosarcoma

IDM Pharma, Inc. has announced that it has recently met with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and informed the FDA that the Company intends to take immediate action to supplement the data in its current New Drug Application (NDA) for mifamurtide (L-MTP-PE), formerly known as Junovan, which is being reviewed for the treatment of children and adolescents with non-metastatic osteosarcoma.

23 Jul 2007

Curry chemical bisdemethoxycurcumin may clear amyloid beta plaques

FINDINGS: Researchers isolated bisdemethoxycurcumin, the active ingredient of curcuminoids – a natural substance found in turmeric root – that may help boost the immune system in clearing amyloid beta, a peptide that forms the plaques found in Alzheimer's disease.

17 Jul 2007

How immune cells catch pathogens

To protect us from disease our immune system employs macrophages, cells that roam our body in search of disease-causing bacteria.

12 Jul 2007

How immune cells catch pathogens

To protect us from disease our immune system employs macrophages, cells that roam our body in search of disease-causing bacteria. With the help of long tentacle-like protrusions, macrophages can catch suspicious particles, pull them towards their cell bodies, internalise and destroy them.

11 Jul 2007

Researchers increase in vivo lifetime of nanoparticles

Researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara have discovered that attaching polymeric nanoparticles to the surface of red blood cells dramatically increases the in vivo lifetime of the nanoparticles.

29 Jun 2007

Polymeric nanoparticles show potential as new method for drug delivery

28 Jun 2007

Smoking affects ligament healing

The list of reasons you shouldn't smoke has gotten longer. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are reporting that smoking interferes with ligament healing.

23 Jun 2007

Acquired DNA key to certain bacterial infection

Researchers announced this week the discovery of a mechanism by which Mycobacterium avium - a bacterium which can result in serious lung infections and is prevalent in emphysema and AIDS patients among others - infects tissue cells or macrophages and thus compromises the body's immunity.

19 Jun 2007

Impaired anti-inflammatory response plays role in pathology of type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is classified as a metabolic disorder, but a growing number of researchers are beginning to think of it also as a disease of the innate immune system. Inflammation, a key component of the early immune response, is chronically elevated in people with type 2 diabetes.

17 Jun 2007

Quantum dots outline brain tumors for surgical removal

Although surgical removal of a tumor can be the most effective way of treating brain cancer, neurosurgeons are often faced with the dilemma of determining the exact border between a tumor and the healthy tissue that surrounds it.

14 Jun 2007

In mice, drug protects against diabetes and atherosclerosis

Blocking a single protein with an experimental drug prevented and treated both type 2 diabetes and atherosclerosis in laboratory mice that had been fed unhealthy diets and were genetically predisposed to these common killers, according to an article published online in Nature.

8 Jun 2007