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Study unlocks secrets in bone marrow that could lead to improved treatments for colitis, Crohn's

Michigan State University researchers have unlocked secrets in bone marrow that could lead to improved treatments for colitis and Crohn's disease.

25 Sep 2012

PCA inhibits multiple pathways involved in development of diabetic nephropathy

Diabetic nephropathy is one of the most serious complications related to diabetes, often leading to end-stage kidney disease. Purple corn grown in Peru and Chile is a relative of blue corn, which is readily available in the U.S.

20 Sep 2012

Converting blood cells to a stem cell state: an interview with Elias Zambidis, M.D., Ph.D.

The primitive stem cell state we created is called an “induced pluripotent stem cell” (iPSC). iPSC are a new, unique, and artificially-created type of stem cell that were first described in 2006 by a Japanese scientist named Shinya Yamanaka.

4 Sep 2012

Researchers discover new immune response mechanism during infection

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a new "first response" mechanism that the immune system uses to respond to infection. The findings challenge the current understanding of immunity and could lead to new strategies for boosting effectiveness of all vaccines. The study, conducted in mice, published online today in the journal Immunity.

31 Aug 2012

New results describe development of DC cancer vaccine with enhanced immunogenic potential

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, and collaborators at Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands announced today that they have published new pre-clinical results in the journal Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy describing the development of a dendritic cell (DC) cancer vaccine with enhanced immunogenic potential.

23 Aug 2012

Article describes novel technique to study interactions between HIV-1 and P. falciparum

The World Health Organization estimates that in 2011 there were 216 million cases of malaria and 34.2 million people living with HIV. These diseases particularly afflict sub-Saharan Africa, where large incidence of co-infection result in high mortality rates. Yet, in spite of this global pandemic, interactions between the parasite that causes malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, and HIV-1 are poorly understood.

16 Aug 2012

Implanted cells' therapeutic properties depend on their shape

Tissue implants made of cells grown on a sponge-like scaffold have been shown in clinical trials to help heal arteries scarred by atherosclerosis and other vascular diseases. However, it has been unclear why some implants work better than others.

16 Aug 2012

Study investigates role of inflammation in ALS mouse model

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive disease wherein the cells of the central nervous system (CNS) involved in movement and coordination are destroyed. Although the mechanism of ALS is not completely understood, inflammation is believed to play a role in the disease process. A recent study by Howard Weiner and colleagues at Harvard Medical School and Tufts School of Medicine investigated the role of inflammation in a mouse model of ALS.

7 Aug 2012

Changes in monocytes are biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) are the first to discover that changes in monocytes (a type of white blood cell) are a biomarker for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. This finding also brings the medical community a step closer toward a new treatment for the debilitating neurological disease that affects approximately 30,000 Americans.

7 Aug 2012

Scientists decipher molecular causes of life-threatening candida fungal infections

With infectious diseases, it is often not the pathogen itself, but rather an excessive inflammatory immune responses death, for instance as a result of organ damage. On intensive care units, sepsis is the second-most common cause of death worldwide. In patients with a severely compromised immune system specially, life-threatening candida fungal infections represent a high risk of sepsis.

30 Jul 2012

Targeting monocyte activation may reduce arterial inflammation in HIV-infected patients

The elevated risk of cardiovascular disease seen in patients infected with HIV appears to be associated with increased inflammation within the arteries, according to a study that will appear in a special issue of JAMA published in conjunction with the International AIDS Conference.

23 Jul 2012

UNMC's ART injectables can successfully treat HIV infection

This has been a good week for breakthroughs in HIV/AIDS. Earlier this week, the Food and Drug Administration approved a daily pill, Truvada, which reduces the risk of HIV infection. Today, a University of Nebraska Medical Center research team's progress toward developing weekly or twice-monthly injectable antiretroviral therapy (ART) nanomedicines for patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection will be highlighted as the cover story in the Journal of Infectious Diseases.

19 Jul 2012

Physiologists, neuropathologists identify origin of cancer metastasis formation

It is not primary tumors that are responsible for the majority of cancer deaths, but rather their metastases. Physiologists and neuropathologists from the University of Zurich have now identified the origin of metastasis formation, thereby becoming the first to reveal the pathway of metastasizing intestinal cancer cells out of the blood stream. The results allow new approaches in the development of cancer therapies.

12 Jul 2012

Scientists discover constant cloud of potent inflammatory molecules surrounding the monocytes

Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have discovered a 'constant cloud' of potent inflammatory molecules surrounding the cells responsible for diseases such as thickening of the arteries and rheumatoid arthritis.

5 Jul 2012

Study identifies possible new approach to defeat bacterial infections

Research led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital scientists has identified a possible new approach to defeating bacterial infections by targeting an innate immune system component in a bid to invigorate the immune response.

3 Jul 2012

Study suggests new treatment strategy for heart attacks and strokes

A heart attack doesn't just damage heart muscle tissue by cutting off its blood supply, it also sets off an inflammatory cascade that worsens underlying atherosclerosis, actively increasing the risk for a future heart attack. These findings from a study receiving advance online publication in Nature suggest an important new therapeutic strategy for preventing heart attacks and strokes, both of which are caused when atherosclerotic plaques rupture and block important blood vessels.

28 Jun 2012

Thrombosis biomarker levels differ according to thrombolysis strategy

An early invasive strategy following thrombolysis for ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction is associated with significant changes in the levels of inflammatory and thrombotic biomarkers, a substudy of the Norwegian study on district treatment of STEMI shows.

31 May 2012

Wellmune minimizes risk of URTI among marathoners

Marathoners taking Wellmune WGP, a natural immune health ingredient, for four weeks experienced an average reduction of 40% in upper respiratory tract infection symptomatic days that commonly afflict long-distance runners, according to new clinical study results presented today at the American College of Sports Medicine 59th annual meeting.

31 May 2012

Innate differences in immunity can be detected at birth

Innate differences in immunity can be detected at birth, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. And babies with a better innate response to viruses have fewer respiratory illnesses in the first year of life.

18 May 2012

Ixmyelocel-T shows promise against progressive heart failure

An investigational therapy derived from a patient's own bone marrow stem cells improves heart function in some patients with progressive heart failure due to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), according to the results of a Phase 2a study presented today as a late-breaking clinical trial at the SCAI 2012 Scientific Sessions.

11 May 2012