Immune System News and Research

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Cell biologists may have discovered a new effective therapy for psoriasis

About two million Germans suffer from psoriasis (from the Greek psora meaning ‘itching, scratching’). In this incurable disease the regeneration of the epidermis is speeded up enormously: whereas it normally renews itself in just under four weeks, this period is cut to four to seven days in psoriasis patients.

16 Aug 2004

Revolutionary new test for identifying people infected with tuberculosis

The test – named T SPOT-TB – is designed to replace the century old skin test for TB, which is currently given to 600,000 UK schoolchildren every year. The test comes from discoveries made over the last 10 years at the University of Oxford by Dr Aljit Lalvani and collaborators at the Nuffield Department of Medicine.

16 Aug 2004

Discovery of new ways to manipulate AIDS virus

Researchers at the National Cancer Institute, have discovered new information about how human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency (AIDS), possibly evades eradication from the body.

16 Aug 2004

New method for building carbohydrate molecules

Chemists at the California Institute of Technology have succeeded in devising a new method for building carbohydrate molecules in a simple and straightforward way that requires very few steps. The new synthesis strategy should be of benefit to scientists in the areas of chemistry and biology and in the pharmaceutical industry.

13 Aug 2004

No adverse side-effects have been observed in clinical trial of SARS vaccine

Sinovac Biotech has announced that all 36 subjects of the Phase I human clinical trial for its inactivated SARS vaccine have now been vaccinated with either SARS vaccine or placebo.

11 Aug 2004

Research unlocks the mystery of the miraculous healing powers of honey

A Sydney researcher has unlocked the mystery of the miraculous healing powers of honey, adding to the calls for its use as a first line defence against serious infection.

11 Aug 2004

Vaccine trial shows promising results for streptococcal infection protection

A study published in the current issue of JAMA reports that a streptococcal vaccine trial has shown promising results for protection against streptococcal infections.

11 Aug 2004

Stanford researchers identify leukemia stem cells

A handful of leukemia cells constantly replenish the supply of cancerous cells, according to new work by Stanford University School of Medicine researchers.

11 Aug 2004

Million-dollar grant to trial potential stem cell therapies to repair injured spinal cords

An Australian team headed by UNSW's Professor Phil Waite has won a million-dollar grant from the NSW Department of Health to trial potential stem cell therapies to repair injured spinal cords.

11 Aug 2004

Serious new side effects of performance enhancing drugs

As the countdown continues to the Athens Olympics, a new Australian study by a team of Southern Cross University (SCU) scientists has revealed serious new side effects of performance enhancing drugs.

11 Aug 2004

Not only has life evolved, but life has evolved to evolve

That's the conclusion drawn by two Rice University scientists who have designed a computer simulation to test the idea that evolvability — the likelihood of genetic mutation — is a trait that can itself be favored or disfavored through the process of natural selection.

11 Aug 2004

Changes to the UK's childhood vaccination programme

From the end of September these vaccines will be given in the routine vaccination schedule in a combined vaccine along with Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Hib.

9 Aug 2004

Austrian researchers in a world first have successfully engineered an allergy vaccine

Austrian researchers in a world first have successfully engineered an allergy vaccine using a genetically modified version of the birch pollen allergen.

9 Aug 2004

Liver transplantation outcomes have significantly improved for patients with hepatitis B

Since the early 1990s, therapeutic options for patients undergoing liver transplantation for hepatitis B have evolved to include HBV immune globulin (HBIG) and lamivudine.

9 Aug 2004

Reminder to avoid handling bats for risk of rabies

In the wake of an increase in calls reporting human and pet contacts with bats, the Washington Department of Health has reminded people that avoiding bats can protect them from rabies. Bats are not aggressive animals and they generally do not intentionally attack humans.

9 Aug 2004

Possible role for BK virus in development of prostate cancer

Now, new research by scientists at the University of Michigan Medical School suggests the intriguing possibility that this common virus also may play a role in prostate cancer – the second-leading cause of deaths from cancer in American men.

9 Aug 2004

Significant advance in the understanding of the hepatitis C virus (HCV)

Researchers have made a significant advance in the understanding of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) by identifying new genetic factors associated with clearing the virus spontaneously without the necessity for additional treatment.

9 Aug 2004

Correlation between HCV viral load and severity of liver disease

The significance of hepatitis C virus (HCV) serum titers (HCV viral load) has been examined in several clinical situations. There is much evidence that patients with a lower viral load have better response rates to anti-viral therapy compared to those with higher levels.

9 Aug 2004

Self-recovery from Hep C infection linked to genes that suppress action of killer immune cells

In a study to be published in Science online Aug. 6, researchers at Johns Hopkins have found that genes involved in suppressing the body's defensive "killer" immune cells are a potential key factor in spontaneous recovery from hepatitis C.

5 Aug 2004

First evidence of the molecular link between inflammation and cancer

The investigators found that a gene called I-kappa-B kinase (IKK beta), a pro-inflammatory gene, acts differently in two cell types to cause cancer. When IKK beta was deleted, the cancer incidence and tumor growth in mice was decreased by nearly 80 percent.

5 Aug 2004