Immunodeficiency News and Research

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Immunodeficiency (or immune deficiency) is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious disease is compromised or entirely absent.

New database catalogs peptides that may halt SARS-CoV-2 cell infection

In the quest for a highly specific and tailored treatment strategy against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a recent publication available on the preprint server bioRxiv describes a repository of designed peptides that interfere with the early stages of viral invasion process.

30 Apr 2020

Boston Children's Hospital launches two-pronged study of COVID-19 in children

Boston Children's Hospital has launched a two-pronged study of COVID-19 disease among children and youth up to age 25 across the country, with $2.1 million in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

28 Apr 2020

Using neutralising antibodies in the fight against COVID-19

While many scientists and pharmaceutical companies are racing to develop a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine, there is also an urgent need for a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment. The potent virus has now spread to 210 countries and territories, affecting more than 3.04 million people. Now, a team of German scientists is working on using antibodies to prevent and treat COVID-19.

27 Apr 2020

Breakthrough discovery in HIV research opens path to new, better therapies

New research on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) structure has revealed a promising novel drug target for treating it.

23 Apr 2020

COVID-19 and immunodeficiency

COVID-19 disease, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is a highly infectious disease. As of today, over 170,000 people worldwide have succumbed to the infection. Reports have shown that some comorbidities and illnesses raise the risk of getting infected and also influence the severity of the disease. Having a compromised immune system can also drastically raise the risk of getting COVID-19.

21 Apr 2020

Octapharma USA supports new COVID-19 clinical trial

Octapharma USA is supporting a new investigator initiated clinical trial led by George Sakoulas, M.D. of Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego, California focused on treating the most critical patients at the heart of the coronavirus pandemic, those experiencing respiratory failure who become ventilator dependent.

16 Apr 2020

Remdesivir drug stops novel coronavirus from replicating

Scientists from the University of Alberta have published findings that the antiviral drug remdesivir prevents replication of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) by inhibiting RNA replication. The study, published in April 2020 in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, follows on the heels of earlier reports from the same lab in February, showing the drug's effectiveness against the related Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus.

15 Apr 2020

Ebola drug effective against key enzyme of coronavirus that causes COVID-19

Scientists at the University of Alberta have shown that the drug remdesivir is highly effective in stopping the replication mechanism of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, according to new research published today in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

13 Apr 2020

Exploring mechanisms of resistance to HIV in people with sickle cell disease

Analysis supports reports that sickle cell disease causes lower HIV infection rate, but cell studies did not reveal a mechanism.

8 Apr 2020

How do viruses mutate and jump to humans?

Zoonotic spillover events like the current novel coronavirus pandemic present threats to human health. But what is zoonotic spillover and how do they occur?

7 Apr 2020

Antiparasitic drug Ivermectin kills coronavirus in 48 hours

Around the world, scientists race to develop a vaccine or treatment against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Now, a team of researchers has found that a drug already available around the world can kill the coronavirus in a lab setting in just 48 hours.

6 Apr 2020

CVD risk among people with HIV varies by geography, income

People living with human immunodeficiency virus infection are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease compared to people without HIV.

1 Apr 2020

Newly developed laboratory model helps reveal how HIV infection affects the brain

Though many negative repercussions of human immunodeficiency virus infection can be mitigated with the use of antiretroviral therapy, one area where medical advances haven't made as much progress is in the reduction of cognitive impacts.

27 Mar 2020

Excessive salt intake weakens the immune system

A high-salt diet is not only bad for one's blood pressure, but also for the immune system. This is the conclusion of a current study under the leadership of the University Hospital Bonn.

25 Mar 2020

A high salt intake impairs immune response, study suggests

A study has shown that a high salt intake inhibits the immune system’s ability to combat bacteria.

25 Mar 2020

Lopinavir and ritonavir drug combo tested in severe COVID-19

Researchers from China and the United Kingdom have collaborated to conduct a clinical trial looking at the efficacy of a combination of two anti-HIV drugs lopinavir and ritonavir to combat severe cases of COVID-19. Their study titled, “A Trial of Lopinavir–Ritonavir in Adults Hospitalized with Severe COVID-19,” was published in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

19 Mar 2020

Scientists develop single-step method to produce water-soluble fullerene compounds for medicine

Scientists from the Skoltech Center for Energy Science and Technology and the Institute for Problems of Chemical Physics of Russian Academy of Sciences in collaboration with researchers from the Catholic University of Leuven developed a single-step method to obtain water-soluble fullerene compounds with remarkable biological properties, such as the ability to effectively suppress the human immunodeficiency virus

17 Mar 2020

Immunotherapy combination can shrink viral reservoir in HIV model

Stimulating immune cells with two cancer immunotherapies together can shrink the size of the viral "reservoir" in SIV-infected non-human primates treated with antiviral drugs, researchers have concluded.

16 Mar 2020

The second person cured from HIV goes public

In the 1980s and early 1990s, the outbreak of HIV and AIDS swept across the globe. Today, more than 70 million people have been infected with HIV, and about 35 million have died from AIDS since the start of the pandemic. However, scientific advances, such as the development of antiretroviral drugs, have enabled people with access to treatment to live long and healthy lives with HIV. But, there is still no vaccine and cure for it. In history, only two persons have been cleared of the infection, one in Berlin and now the second one in London.

10 Mar 2020

Liver fibrosis associated with one type of heart failure, regardless of HIV or hepatitis C status

While there is an association between liver fibrosis and heart failure, the mechanisms for this association are currently unclear but may be of particular importance for people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and/or hepatitis C, both of which are chronic infections that affect the liver and heart.

7 Mar 2020