Immune System News and Research

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Novel strategy to tackle acute myelogenous leukemia

A novel strategy to hopefully beat into oblivion one of the most aggressive forms of acute myelogenous leukemia combines the strengths of some of the newest leukemia agents, researchers say.

25 Sep 2007

How do we choose our mates?

For quite some time now, scientists suspect that it is not for looks or fashion, neither for love or sympathy.

25 Sep 2007

Trop-2 new target for anti-tumour therapy in cancer

Italian scientists announced (Monday September 24) that they have found a new and promising target for anti-tumour therapy in cancer.

25 Sep 2007

New Pfizer HIV drug approved for sale in Europe

Drug giant Pfizer has been given approval for it's new HIV drug Celsentri to go on sale in Europe.

24 Sep 2007

Trials of a new HIV vaccine come to an abrupt halt

Trials of a new HIV vaccine have come to an abrupt halt after it did not prevent volunteers from becoming infected.

24 Sep 2007

Acute loss of intestinal CD4+ T cells is not predictive of SIV virulence

A sudden loss of T cells -- white blood cells crucial to the immune system -- is not the trigger for the onset of AIDS, according to a study published in the September 2007 issue of the Journal of Immunology by a team of researchers at Tulane National Primate Research Center.

24 Sep 2007

MIT model could improve some drugs' effectiveness

MIT researchers have developed a computer modeling approach that could improve a class of drugs based on antibodies, molecules key to the immune system.

24 Sep 2007

Clostridium difficile could outstrip MRSA in Irish hospitals

Research findings on a bug which is a major threat to hospital patients and particularly elderly patients, which could outstrip MRSA, will be presented to the Irish Society for Immunology (ISI) Annual Conference at Dublin City University.

24 Sep 2007

Genetic cause discovered for systemic lupus erythematosus

Mutations in a gene researchers call TREX1 is one cause for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a severe and incurable autoimmune disease.

24 Sep 2007

FDA warns consumers not to consume Organic Pastures raw cream

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to drink or consume raw (unpasteurized) cream labeled as "ORGANIC PASTURES Grade A RAW CREAM" in one-pint plastic bottles coded "SEP 14" through "SEP 21."

24 Sep 2007

Scientists decipher mechanism behind antimicrobial 'hole punchers'

In the battle against bacteria, researchers have scored a direct hit.

21 Sep 2007

Brugia malayi's secrets revealed

An international team of researchers has revealed the genetic secrets of one of the world's most debilitating human parasites, Brugia malayi (B. malayi), which the World Health Organization estimates has seriously incapacitated and disfigured more than 40 million people around the globe.

21 Sep 2007

Scientists solve genetic code of parasitic worm that causes elephantiasis

More than 150 million people worldwide are infected with filarial parasites -- long, thread-like worms that can live for years inside the human body and cause severe, debilitating diseases such as elephantiasis.

21 Sep 2007

Flu virus migrates globally all year round

The influenza A virus does not lie dormant during summer but migrates globally and mixes with other viral strains before returning to the Northern Hemisphere as a genetically different virus, according to biologists who say the finding settles a key debate on what the virus does during the summer off season when it is not infecting people.

21 Sep 2007

Testes offer a promising new source of stem cells

After a decade of research, Howard Hughes Medical Institute scientists have succeeded in reprogramming adult stem cells from the testes of male mice into functional blood vessels and contractile cardiac tissue.

20 Sep 2007

Discovery of cause of Job's syndrome

The rare immunodeficiency disorder known as Job's syndrome is caused by a specific genetic mutation that both overstimulates and understimulates the human immune system, leading to harmful bacterial and fungal infections and the physical features characteristic of the syndrome, according to two independent groups of scientists, one from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the other from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University.

20 Sep 2007

Pregnancy may slow AIDS progression

A new study may help put to rest fears that pregnancy accelerates progression to full-blown AIDS in women with HIV receiving antiretroviral therapy.

20 Sep 2007

Common abdominal pain may be due to a potentially treatable newly recognized inflammatory reaction

As many as one in four people in westernized countries experience pain or discomfort in their upper abdomen, and physicians have almost nothing to offer except anti-acid medicines, which usually don't work.

20 Sep 2007

Re-engineered human T cells effectively target and kill cancerous B cells

Human white blood cells, engineered to recognize other malignant immune cells, could provide a novel therapy for patients with highly lethal B cell cancers such as acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC).

18 Sep 2007

Sexual function affected by stem cell transplant according to long-term study

A long-term study found that a type of stem cell transplant used for patients with life-threatening diseases, such as leukemia and lymphoma, results in decreased sexual function and activity for recipients.

18 Sep 2007