Immune System News and Research

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Critical lock and key mechanism found for the assembly of tumor blood vessels

A critical lock and key mechanism that allows the final step in the completion of new blood vessel formation has been identified by a University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine team in research that promises to lead to a new way to halt tumor growth by cutting off the tumor blood supply.

3 May 2005

College freshies show weaker immune responses

Being a college freshie may have more ramifications than being lonely and missing Mum's cooking, according to a new study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh which shows that first-year students had a weaker immune response to the flu shot than did other students, and confirms suspicions that going to college challenges both mind and body.

2 May 2005

Researchers benchmark the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency, anemia, iodine-deficiency disorders and underweight children as measures of malnutrition in developing regions

International health advocates and policymakers still have work to do to meet the nutrition goals set by the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children in 2002, according to a survey of nutrition needs in developing regions published by Tulane University researchers.

2 May 2005

Loneliness and social network appear to make independent contributions to immunity

A new study at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh confirms how college challenges both mind and body, by demonstrating that lonely first-year students mounted a weaker immune response to the flu shot than did other students. The study appears in the May issue of Health Psychology, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

2 May 2005

Age-related macular degeneration is triggered, possibly by an infection

Age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the elderly, occurs when a common inherited gene variation is triggered, possibly by an infection, according to a new study led by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center and the University of Iowa, with an international research team.

1 May 2005

Antibiotic minocycline might help alleviate HIV's negative effects on the brain and central nervous system

By studying animals, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that the antibiotic minocycline might help alleviate HIV's negative effects on the brain and central nervous system, problems that can develop even though antiretroviral therapy controls the virus elsewhere in the body.

1 May 2005

Researchers show protein's role in stopping bacterial-induced inflammation

In findings that could have implications for autoimmune disorders and drug-resistant bacterial infections, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have identified a key protein involved in the appropriate shut-down of inflammation following an immune response to invading pathogens.

28 Apr 2005

Generex begins testing new vaccine for breast cancer patients

Generex Biotechnology Corporation announced today that the first patients had received a novel therapeutic vaccine developed by its wholly owned subsidiary, Antigen Express as part of the Company's Phase I Trial. The Trial will include between 16 and 24 patients.

28 Apr 2005

Cancer treatment - timing is everything

Research led by a cancer biologist at The Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute has identified a molecular mechanism that links the body's internal clock to daily variations in how a patient responds to cancer treatment.

28 Apr 2005

Respiratory syncytial virus affects the elderly and high-risk adults as much as influenza

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), primarily seen as a cause of illness in infants and children, often affects the elderly and high-risk adults as much as influenza, a study by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers demonstrates.

27 Apr 2005

Molecular switch may help fight off MRSA

The discovery of a 'molecular switch' could lead to new ways of treating infections such as MRSA, and inflammatory diseases like arthritis.

27 Apr 2005

Scientists add an important piece to the intricate puzzle of type-1 diabetes

For some time, scientists have known that a regenerative or repair process -- involving the development of specialized structures called tubular complexes -- is switched on during physical and chemical trauma to the pancreas (the gland that manufactures and secretes crucial insulin in the body).

27 Apr 2005

National clinical trial examines new option for kidney cancer patients

The trial, which opened last September, offers research subjects who qualify a new, targeted therapy in addition to standard immune therapy. The drug combination is being studied in a national Phase II clinical trial led by OHSU Cancer Institute researcher Christopher Ryan, M.D., through the Southwest Oncology Group, one of the largest clinical trial cooperative groups in the United States.

27 Apr 2005

Jackie Chan says stop discrimination against people living with HIV/AIDS

At the conclusion of his first mission to Viet Nam, UNICEF/ UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador Jackie Chan called for an end to discrimination and stigma towards children and families infected or affected with HIV/AIDS.

27 Apr 2005

Promising new West Nile therapy cures disease in mice

West Nile virus alarmed Americans when it made its first U.S. appearance in New York City in 1999. It has since spread from coast to coast, sickened more than 16,000 Americans and killed more than 600.

27 Apr 2005

Legionnaire's disease confirmed at New York hospital

A New York hospital has confirmed that an autopsy on one of the patients who died while being treated for suspected Legionnaire's disease did have the disease. The New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center say they are taking the matter very seriously and are implementing all necessary measures to insure the safety of patients.

26 Apr 2005

HIV epidemic among young men unabated because many are unaware they are infected

U.S. health officials say many young gay and bisexual men who are HIV-positive are unaware they have the virus.

26 Apr 2005

Search for new multiple sclerosis drug

UT Southwestern Medical Center is the lead research site testing a new treatment for a rare form of multiple sclerosis. Called "primary progressive," this type of MS affects about 15 percent of patients with the neurodegenerative disease.

26 Apr 2005

Generex Biotechnology receives Australian patent for vaccine technology to fight cancer and pandemic influenza

Generex Biotechnology announced today that its wholly owned subsidiary, Antigen Express, has received Australian Patent No. 778115 titled "Hybrid Peptides Modulate the Immune Response." Antigen Express is designing and testing such vaccine peptides for the control of cancer and infectious diseases with a particular focus on the pandemic H5N1 influenza, which has been reported in South East Asia.

26 Apr 2005

P12 protein influences key cell-signaling pathway

New research shows that a protein produced by a cancer-causing virus influences a key signaling pathway in the immune cells that the virus infects. This stimulates the cells to divide, helping the virus spread through the body.

26 Apr 2005