Immune System News and Research

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Rituximab, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is safe and effective

Professor Paul Emery from the University of Leeds in the UK led the DANCER study (Double blind placebo controlled dose ranging study), designed to confirm the efficacy of rituximab for the treatment of patients with active RA who have failed to improve on one or more disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs).

9 Jun 2005

Rituximab provides new hope for people with lupus

Rheumatologists at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Vienna, Austria heard today (Thursday 9 June) that rituximab is the first drug in a quarter of a century that is making a real impact, and an alternative to previous standard treatments of high-dose steroids, and chemotherapy.

9 Jun 2005

Superbug possibly the same as US killer strain

Microbiologists at the Health Protection Agency suspect that the superbug which has already caused 12 deaths at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, in Buckinghamshire, may be the same strain that has spread in many American hospitals since 2001, and killed more than 100 patients in Quebec, Canada, last year.

8 Jun 2005

Detox diets unsound science and do not work

Scientists say there is no proof that Detox diets work and they do no more to rid the body of toxins than the body's own natural system.

8 Jun 2005

Diversity of HLA genotypes in humans is shaped to a significant degree by pathogens

The great physical diversity that evolution has forged in human beings is in evidence wherever we look, but the genes exhibiting the greatest diversity at the DNA level happen to function in a wholly invisible process: immunity. Genes encoding the Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) proteins are among the most diverse in the human genome, and scientists have proposed a number of hypotheses to explain why.

6 Jun 2005

Gene therapy for arthritis is both feasible and safe

Gene therapy for arthritis and other non-terminal, debilitating conditions and diseases is both feasible and safe, report researchers who conducted the world's first such test on the approach in patients with advanced rheumatoid arthritis.

6 Jun 2005

New process removes allergy potential from peanut products

Scientists say a special fermentation process may significantly reduce the potential for allergic reaction to peanut products.

6 Jun 2005

Patients with advanced heart failure significantly improved after receiving stem cell therapy

The study showed, 30 days after receiving the stem cells by injection into their hearts, patients improved an average of 41 percent in their hearts' pumping efficiency and the distance they could walk nonstop increased by 72 percent in a standard test widely used to assess heart patients.

6 Jun 2005

Gene linked to lower breast cancer risk

In a presentation at the 2nd ESMO Scientific & Educational Conference (ESEC) in Budapest, Hungary, Dr. Uwe Langsenlehner and colleagues from Medical University Graz in Austria showed that a specific genetic variation in a cytokine gene is associated with lower breast cancer risk.

6 Jun 2005

Scientists develop vaccines against the Ebola and Marburg viruses

Scientists from the Public Health Agency of Canada - with assistance from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases - have developed vaccines against the Ebola and Marburg viruses that have been shown to be effective in non-human primates.

5 Jun 2005

Whooping cough vaccine may be introduced in New Zealand

The New Zealand's Ministry of Health has confirmed, as a whooping cough epidemic continues to sweep the country, that a new vaccine to control the spread of whooping cough may be introduced next year.

5 Jun 2005

Research findings suggest new treatment strategies for patients with cystic fibrosis

Cells sent to fight infections in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients actually enhance the development of permanent bacterial infections, according to researchers at National Jewish Medical and Research Center.

3 Jun 2005

Research shows how a virus uses the gene silencing machinery for its own infectious purposes

In the latest version of the hide-and-seek game between pathogens and the hosts they infect, researchers have found that a virus appears to cloak itself with a recently discovered gene silencing device to evade detection and destruction by immune cells.

3 Jun 2005

New vaccine against whooping cough is effective in teens and adults

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) has announced that a study to be published in the June 22/29 issue found that a new vaccine against whooping cough is effective in teens and adults, carriers of the contagious respiratory disease so dangerous to infants.

3 Jun 2005

Survey reveals more than half of all Americans have first-hand experience with serious infections

A national survey sponsored by the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) to assess consumer awareness of serious infections found a majority of consumers (66 percent) have either heard or read about the problem of antibiotic resistance in treating serious infections.

2 Jun 2005

Novel topical treatment of psoriasis

Cytochroma Inc. today announced results from a Phase Ia clinical study for CTA018, a novel vitamin D analog developed for the treatment of psoriasis.

2 Jun 2005

Early surgical removal of the spleen combined with antiangiogenic cancer therapy may halt the progression of leukemia

The research, published today in Blood, is the first to show the combination of two factors secreted from the environment of the spleen is important in the promotion of leukemia.

1 Jun 2005

Newly discovered gene could provide targets for diabetes therapies

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) has announced that JDRF-funded researchers in Australia and the United Kingdom have identified a gene called Roquin that regulates the immune system and keeps harmful T cells in check.

1 Jun 2005

Hybridon collaborates to develop immune modulatory (IMO) compounds for asthma and allergy

Hybridon today announced it had entered into research collaboration and license agreements with Novartis for the discovery, optimization, development and commercialization of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) drug candidates targeting asthma and allergy based on Hybridon's proprietary immune modulatory oligonucleotide (IMO) technology platform.

1 Jun 2005

Blood abnormality, sickle cell trait, gives added protection to children from malaria

The blood cell abnormality, sickle cell trait, gives an increasing amount of protection against malaria as young children grow during their first ten years of life, new research has revealed.

30 May 2005

Immune System News and Research

Rituximab, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is safe and effective

Rituximab provides new hope for people with lupus

Superbug possibly the same as US killer strain

Detox diets unsound science and do not work

Diversity of HLA genotypes in humans is shaped to a significant degree by pathogens

Gene therapy for arthritis is both feasible and safe

New process removes allergy potential from peanut products

Patients with advanced heart failure significantly improved after receiving stem cell therapy

Gene linked to lower breast cancer risk

Scientists develop vaccines against the Ebola and Marburg viruses

Whooping cough vaccine may be introduced in New Zealand

Research findings suggest new treatment strategies for patients with cystic fibrosis

Research shows how a virus uses the gene silencing machinery for its own infectious purposes

New vaccine against whooping cough is effective in teens and adults

Survey reveals more than half of all Americans have first-hand experience with serious infections

Novel topical treatment of psoriasis

Early surgical removal of the spleen combined with antiangiogenic cancer therapy may halt the progression of leukemia

Newly discovered gene could provide targets for diabetes therapies

Hybridon collaborates to develop immune modulatory (IMO) compounds for asthma and allergy

Blood abnormality, sickle cell trait, gives added protection to children from malaria

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