Immune System News and Research

RSS

Bioniche receives European patent

Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., a research-based, technology-driven human and animal health biopharmaceutical company, today announced that it has had an additional European patent granted by the European Patent Office (EPO) on its core mycobacterial cell wall technology.

29 Mar 2005

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) can successfully identify the characteristics of coronary plaques

A catheter-based imaging technology called optical coherence tomography (OCT) can successfully identify the characteristics of coronary plaques in patients with various cardiac symptoms. The report from researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) will appear in the journal Circulation.

29 Mar 2005

Cells that might be able to suppres cat allergies

In a paper in this month's premier open-access medical journal PLoS Medicine, Mark Larche and colleagues from Imperial College London describe a subset of cells that might be able to suppress cells that cause cat allergy.

29 Mar 2005

Surprising discovery about natural immunity to pneumococcus

Since 2000, U.S. infants have been routinely immunized against pneumococcal (Streptococcus pneumoniae) infection. Now, Boston researchers have made a surprising discovery about natural immunity to pneumococcus.

29 Mar 2005

Bacteria's rising threat studied

Infectious diseases researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center are noticing a significant increase in the number of infections due to Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and the number of asymptomatic individuals who harbor the organism in their bodies.

29 Mar 2005

AIDS virus initially more destructive than first thought

The AIDS virus destroys more than half of the immune cells that might recognize and help fight it, within days of infection according to US researchers, and this revelation might necessitate a re-evaluation of how the deadly infection should be tackled.

28 Mar 2005

Vaccine prevents deadly pneumonia in African children

Global health leaders today presented new research showing that vaccinating infants against Streptococcus pneumoniae -- a bacterium that causes deadly pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis -- could substantially reduce death and serious illness among children in the developing world. If used widely, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine could prevent hundreds of thousands of child deaths each year.

28 Mar 2005

Vital molecular step in cell migration

A vital molecular step in cell migration, the movement of cells within the body during growth, tissue repair and the body's immune response to invading pathogens, has been demonstrated by researchers in the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

28 Mar 2005

Genome in gut bacterium key to intestinal health

A bacterium that lives in the human gut adaptively shifts more than a quarter of its genes into high gear when its host's diet changes from sugar to complex carbohydrates.

28 Mar 2005

New therapy for treating cat allergies looks promising

Andrew Saxon, M.D., and a team of researchers at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have found that a molecule designed to block cat allergies can prevent allergic reactions in laboratory mice and was also successful when tested on human cells in a test tube.

28 Mar 2005

Hope of new treatments for liver damage

There is currently no cure for liver cirrhosis and a patient's only hope of survival is to receive a liver transplant.

28 Mar 2005

New insights into Pemphigus

Pemphigus is a deadly skin blistering disease that occurs when patients' produce antibodies that attack proteins in their own cells – called autoantibodies.

28 Mar 2005

Risky surgery not always necessary to treat cervical disease

Revolutionary advancements in the treatment options for diseases associated with human papillomavirus (HPV) now include nonsurgical options such as chemoprevention and vaccines. A review of these methods is published in the latest issue of the International Journal of Gynecological Cancer.

28 Mar 2005

NIAID investigates safety of H5N1 avian influenza vaccine

Fast-track recruitment has begun for a trial to investigate the safety of a vaccine against H5N1 avian influenza, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) announced today.

23 Mar 2005

Risky surgery not always necessary to treat cervical disease

23 Mar 2005

Process for disposal of dying neutrophils actively linked to neutrophil production

New research identifies a critical inhibitory step that is a key component of the feedback circuit regulating the balance between neutrophil production and destruction.

23 Mar 2005

How does the body keep the number of neutrophils produced constant in the blood?

Every day, the human body manufactures and destroys about 100 billion neutrophils- the most common type of white blood cell and one of the most highly-produced cells. Neutrophils live about eight hours, are bacteria-eaters and are a key component of the immune system. Without them, the body can be subject to life-threatening infection.

23 Mar 2005

Scientists have found genetic regions that, when defective, allow the immune system to attack the pancreas

Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have found genetic regions that, when defective, allow the immune system to attack the pancreas -- the first in a series of mis-steps that lead to type 1 diabetes. Armed with these findings, published yesterday, March 22, in the journal Immunity, the researchers are now trying to hone in on the exact genes involved, in mice and in human patients.

23 Mar 2005

Discovery that sheds new light upon the growth and development of human natural killer (NK) cells

Scientists here have made a major discovery that sheds new light upon the growth and development of human natural killer (NK) cells, powerful but somewhat mysterious components of the body’s immune system that are the first line of defense against cancer and infectious diseases.

23 Mar 2005

No serious adverse events found with next-generation smallpox vaccine

Interim data from a phase I/II clinical trial of a next-generation vaccine for smallpox suggest that the vaccine may provide immunity and thus far the trial has been without any serious adverse events.

22 Mar 2005