Immune System News and Research

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Immune cells in the liver travel in the liver's blood vessels with surprising speed and agility

Scientists at New York University School of Medicine viewing the actual journey of immune cells in the liver have found that these cells travel in the liver's blood vessels with surprising speed and agility.

4 Apr 2005

Method of gene therapy that can accurately and permanently correct mutations in disease-causing genes

Harnessing the strength of a natural process that repairs damage to the human genome, a researcher from UT Southwestern Medical Center has helped establish a method of gene therapy that can accurately and permanently correct mutations in disease-causing genes.

4 Apr 2005

Obesity may hinder body's ability to control influenza infection

Obesity apparently reduces laboratory mice’s ability to turn on elements of their immune systems needed for controlling influenza infection, a new University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine study shows.

4 Apr 2005

More exhaust inhaled by kids inside school buses than by others in the area

Children on school buses collectively inhale as much or more exhaust emitted from those buses as does the rest of the city's population, according to a new analysis by researchers at the University of California.

4 Apr 2005

Infants under one year of age can accept heart transplants from donors of different blood groups

A study showing that infants under one year of age can accept heart transplants from donors of different blood groups without the risk of organ rejection means a better chance of survival for infant patients and more efficient use of donor organs overall.

4 Apr 2005

Rabies, HIV, cancer and malaria could all be prevented with pills in the future

Rabies, HIV, cancer and malaria could all be prevented with pills in the future, if a new technique using specially modified viruses to deliver vaccines is adopted, according to scientists speaking today (Tuesday, 05 April 2005) at the Society for General Microbiology's 156th Meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.

4 Apr 2005

Nylon strips an effective weapon against the hospital acquired superbug

Nylon strips, beads and hospital stitching thread covered in viruses could be an effective weapon against the hospital acquired superbug, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, known as MRSA, according to research presented today (Tuesday, 05 April 2005) at the Society for General Microbiology's 156th Meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.

4 Apr 2005

Mutations in the HFE gene directly associated with chronic joint disease

Mutations in the HFE gene, which is involved in iron regulation, seem to be directly associated with chronic joint disease (or haemophilic arthropathy) among haemophilic patients, claim a team of Portuguese scientists in the April issue of the journal Blood.

4 Apr 2005

Autistic children found to have abnormal metabolic profile

Autism, a neurodevelopment disorder which has increased tenfold over the last 15 years, now affects 30 of every 10,000 children in the United States.

4 Apr 2005

Tumour Necrosis Factor alpha (TNF-alpha) blocking agents cause skin disease

Members of the second most important family of drugs used to treat rheumatoid arthritis can cause serious dermatological conditions in a quarter of patients under treatment, reveals a study published in the journal Arthritis Research and Therapy.

3 Apr 2005

Novel strategy to create a genetic vaccine against P. aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a bacterium that can cause respiratory tract infections, which can be life threatening in patients who have cystic fibrosis. It is therefore important to develop a vaccine against this pathogen.

3 Apr 2005

Stress may enhance the body's ability to fight the flu

Short bouts of intense social stress improved the ability in the mice to recover from the flu. The stress apparently did so by substantially boosting the production of specialized immune cells that fought the virus.

3 Apr 2005

Airway inflammation boosts infarction damage

Epidemiological studies show that the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) complications are increased in long standing cases of asthma. Historically, the complications are often attributed to the chronic drug therapy used to treat asthma.

3 Apr 2005

Moderate aerobic exercise improves cardiovascular and nervous system function in HIV+ subjects

Researchers from Teachers College, Columbia University, and Coler Goldwater Specialty Hospital and Nursing Facility report that moderate aerobic exercise for 10 weeks, three times a week for 45 minutes each session significantly improved function of the nervous system and circulation in those with HIV disease.

3 Apr 2005

Children with autism have a severely abnormal metabolic profile

Chronic biochemical imbalance is often a primary factor in the development of many complex diseases but a possible metabolic basis for autism has not been well explored. Now Arkansas Children's Hospital Research Institute researchers report for the first time that children with autism have a severely abnormal metabolic profile indicating increased vulnerability to oxidative stress.

3 Apr 2005

Asthma patients' immune systems respond differently with allergies

Researchers from the University of Chihuahua in Mexico report that immune systems of patients with asthma responded differently to a common laboratory challenge, depending on whether their white blood cells had been obtained during a time when they were suffering from common season allergic rhinitis or when they were free of such allergic symptoms.

3 Apr 2005