Immune System News and Research

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Scientists develop method to track immune system enzyme in live animals

Scientists supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) at the National Institutes of Health have created two mouse strains that will permit researchers to trace, in a live animal, the activity of an enzyme believed to play a crucial role both in the normal immune response as well as autoimmunity and B cell tumor development.

18 May 2007

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals to initiate new Bavituximab HCV trial

Peregrine Pharmaceuticals has announced it has filed a new clinical trial protocol with the FDA to study bavituximab in patients co-infected with HCV and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

18 May 2007

Natural immune-control system may aid treatment of autoimmune disease and tissue rejection

The immune system's ability to police itself may offer a new method of arresting the cells responsible for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis and for the rejection of transplanted organs and tissues, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report in a study in the May issue of the journal Immunity.

18 May 2007

Lipoic acid appears to slow down the process of aging

Researchers have identified the mechanism of action of lipoic acid, a remarkable compound that in animal experiments appears to slow down the process of aging, improve blood flow, enhance immune function and perform many other functions.

18 May 2007

Glucose plays a key role in enabling healthy beta cells

A key aspect of how embryos create the cells which secrete insulin is revealed in a new study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

18 May 2007

Antibody-based therapies effective at controlling malaria

Passive immunization through the development of fully human antibodies specific to Plasmodium falciparum may be effective at controlling the disease, report researchers led by Dr. Richard S.

18 May 2007

AMDL receives Israeli patent for animal model for the evaluation of vaccines

AMDL, Inc. has announced that it has received an important Israeli patent for an animal model for the evaluation of vaccines, which is a part of its unique Combination Immune Therapy (CIT) technology.

18 May 2007

Quest for effective HIV vaccines present new possibilities, challenges

A vaccine that prevents HIV infection remains an important goal in the fight against AIDS, but the current top HIV vaccine candidates may not work in this way, say scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

17 May 2007

Study of unexplained respiratory infections leads researchers to new virus

An ongoing effort to identify the microorganisms that make us sick has discovered a new virus potentially linked to unexplained respiratory infections.

17 May 2007

Lack of association between Rh status, Rh immune globulin in pregnancy and autism

The increase in the number of diagnosed cases of autism in recent years has sparked concern that environmental toxins may cause this complex disorder.

17 May 2007

Factors that have the most impact on gum health

There are many lifestyle factors that can impact a person's health, such as nutrition, amount of sleep, mental stress, tobacco use, and exercise.

17 May 2007

Herpes infection may be symbiotic

Mice with chronic herpes virus infections can better resist the bacterium that causes plague and a bacterium that causes one kind of food poisoning, researchers report in Nature.

17 May 2007

Environmental toxins may cause autism

The increase in the number of diagnosed cases of autism in recent years has sparked concern that environmental toxins may cause this complex disorder.

17 May 2007

ACE inhibitors help preserve kidney function in IgA nephropathy

For young patients with the kidney disease IgA nephropathy (IgAN), early treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors can reduce the long-term risk of irreversible kidney damage, suggests a study in the June Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

17 May 2007

Project aims to develop stem cell lines that genetically match human patients

These lines would allow scientists to better study conditions ranging from diabetes to Parkinson's disease, and they would provide the basis for potential patient-specific stem cell treatments.

17 May 2007

Yin Yang 1 regulates early B cell development

A new paper in the May 15th issue of Genes & Development reveals how a protein called Yin Yang 1 regulates early B cell development.

17 May 2007

Possible neuroprotective effect of testosterone treatment in men

A small pilot study suggests that testosterone treatment is safe, well tolerated and may reduce symptoms, slow brain degeneration and increase muscle mass in men with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, the most common form of the disease, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

17 May 2007

Innovative drug-delivery system for rotavirus vaccine

A thin strip that dissolves in the mouth like a popular breath-freshener could someday provide life-saving rotavirus vaccine to infants in impoverished areas.

17 May 2007

Single dose of vitamin D may be enough to boost the immune system to fight against tuberculosis

Their findings came from a study that identified an extraordinarily high incidence of vitamin D deficiency amongst those communities in London most at risk from the disease, which kills around two million people each year.

16 May 2007

Testosterone gel helps men multiple sclerosis

Close on the heels of a large-scale clinical trial just underway to confirm that the female hormone estriol combats the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS) in women, a just completed pilot study at UCLA now shows promise for the use of testosterone to combat its effects in men.

16 May 2007