Immune Response News and Research

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What lessons have we learned over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic?

One of the pressing questions scientists are currently trying to answer is whether the current vaccines will remain effective against the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern. A new piece of research has been published in the journal Biomedicines, which discusses the knowledge we have gained thus far and the questions that researchers should address in future work.

8 Jun 2021

Could the intranasal route be an alternate avenue of COVID-19 vaccination?

A new study has been published in the journal Vaccines that summarizes the history of vaccines, reviews the current progress in COVID-19 vaccine technology, and discusses the status of intranasal COVID-19 vaccines as a potential pathway to immunization.

8 Jun 2021

Brain study may lead to new treatments for neuro-immune conditions

The immune system is the brain's best frenemy. It protects the brain from infection and helps injured tissues heal, but it also causes autoimmune diseases and creates inflammation that drives neurodegeneration.

8 Jun 2021

Novel COVID-19 vaccine is safe, generates immune response in healthy adults

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt and end lives around the world, and public health officials worldwide have recognized vaccines as the critical tools required for controlling the COVID-19 death toll and achieving a return to normal life.

8 Jun 2021

Study examines how SARS CoV-2 aerosols travel through the lower lungs

When we inhale isolated coronavirus particles, more than 65% reach the deepest region of our lungs where damage to cells can lead to low blood oxygen levels, new research has discovered, and more of these aerosols reach the right lung than the left.

8 Jun 2021

Scientists explain why space travel weakens the human immune system

Microgravity in space perturbs human physiology and is detrimental for astronaut health, a fact first realized during early Apollo missions when astronauts experienced inner ear disturbances, heart arrhythmia, low blood pressure, dehydration, and loss of calcium from their bones after their mission.

8 Jun 2021

Study uncovers novel molecular mechanism of immune cell migration

In a new study, researchers from Osaka University discovered a novel molecular mechanism by which immune cells migrate to fight off infections. These findings may help in understanding the development of certain immune deficiency disorders and establish novel therapies against them.

7 Jun 2021

Repeated low-dose dose exposure to SARS-CoV-2 may protect against severe COVID-19

The Italian authors of this paper, published in the journal Viruses, have taken this hypothesis and expanded it to include viral particles suspended in the air or on inanimate objects as a possible source of T cell immunity due to the repeated low-dose exposure, potentially explaining virus immunity found in non-infected individuals.

7 Jun 2021

Researchers identify a bacterium with anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in vitro: Dolosigranulum pigrum

As intensive efforts are on to counter the virus, a new study by an international team of researchers reports the unexpected success of a bacterium in modulating the immune response in the airway and protecting the cells against infection with this virus.

7 Jun 2021

The great promise of antiviral peptides against SARS-CoV-2

A new study, recently published in the journal Viruses, describes the impressive evidence for the role of antimicrobial peptidse (AMPs) in the treatment of COVID-19.

7 Jun 2021

Kawasaki disease in children has reduced during COVID-19 due to pandemic prevention efforts

The rate of Kawasaki disease in South Korea has substantially decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly due to pandemic prevention efforts, such as mask-wearing, hand-washing and physical distancing, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association's flagship journal Circulation.

7 Jun 2021

Plant-based and fish-based diets reduce the odds of severe COVID-19

Plant-based and pescatarian diets reduced the risk of severe COVID-19 infection by 73% and 59%, respectively.

7 Jun 2021

Vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 with a single dose skin patch

Researchers from Australia recently reported a high-density microarray patch used to deliver a SARS-CoV-2 spike subunit vaccine to the skin directly. They used a combination of a SARS-CoV-2 spike protein vaccine candidate and the high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) vaccine delivery platform.

7 Jun 2021

Study shows why COVID-19 has widely varying outcomes in different people

The answer is something infectious disease experts are working to uncover. As COVID-19 revealed, the same pathogen can have widely varying outcomes in different people.

7 Jun 2021

COVID-19 symptoms in the feet

In a review paper recently uploaded to the Journal of Clinical Medicine by Jimenez-Cebrian et al. (May 19th, 2021), the clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in feet, in particular, are reviewed, finding that vascular, dermatological, and neurological symptoms have been widely reported.

6 Jun 2021

Standardizable assay detects T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection

Researchers in the UK have developed a high-throughput standardizable assay that accurately detects T cell responses to infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

6 Jun 2021

Metformin potently inhibits SARS-CoV-2-induced cytokine release in monocytes

An interesting new bioRxiv* preprint reports the suppression of monocyte glycolysis and cytokine production when exposed to the virus, following pretreatment with the commonly used drug, metformin.

6 Jun 2021

Georgia State professor receives federal grant to study seasonal and universal vaccination in elderly populations

Dr. Sang-Moo Kang, professor in the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, has received a five-year, $2.7 million federal grant to study seasonal and universal vaccination in elderly populations with pre-existing immunity to influenza viruses.

5 Jun 2021