Immune Response News and Research

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Researchers make surprising discoveries about the body's early responses to HIV infection

Researchers at UC Davis have made some surprising discoveries about the body's initial responses to HIV infection. Studying simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the team found that specialized cells in the intestine called Paneth cells are early responders to viral invasion and are the source of gut inflammation by producing a cytokine called interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β).

30 Aug 2014

Researchers receive encouraging results from two historic pediatric HIV vaccine trials

Applying the benefit of hindsight, researchers at Duke Medicine have reanalyzed the findings of two historic pediatric HIV vaccine trials with encouraging results. The vaccines had in fact triggered an antibody response -- now known to be associated with protection in adults -- that was previously unrecognized in the infants studied in the 1990s.

29 Aug 2014

International consortium to accelerate collaborative multi-site trials of potential Ebola vaccine

A candidate Ebola vaccine could be given to healthy volunteers in the UK, The Gambia and Mali as early as September, as part of an series of safety trials of potential vaccines aimed at preventing the disease that has killed more than 1,400 people in the current outbreak in West Africa.

29 Aug 2014

NIH to start initial human testing of investigational Ebola vaccine next week

Initial human testing of an investigational vaccine to prevent Ebola virus disease will begin next week by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

29 Aug 2014

Researchers develop potential antibody therapy for Sudan ebolavirus

Researchers from Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and other institutions have developed a potential antibody therapy for Sudan ebolavirus (SUDV), one of the two most lethal strains of Ebola.

29 Aug 2014

Yale University researchers identify bacterial culprits that drive IBD

Yale University researchers have identified a handful of bacterial culprits that may drive inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, using patients' own intestinal immune responses as a guide.

29 Aug 2014

Experimental drug shows promise as viable treatment for anemia of inflammation

An experimental drug designed to help regulate the blood's iron supply shows promise as a viable first treatment for anemia of inflammation, according to results from the first human study of the treatment published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology.

28 Aug 2014

Cancer can be changed from terminal to chronic by cutting liver piece by piece

New surgical methods give hope to patients with cancer that has spread from the intestine to the liver. The disease can be changed from terminal to chronic by cutting the liver piece by piece using keyhole surgery.

25 Aug 2014

Reduce inflammatory reaction by losing weight, says researcher

Researchers have found a possible molecular explanation for why overweight is harmful. This new knowledge may provide new drugs for heart attack, stroke, cancer and chronic intestinal inflammation.

25 Aug 2014

OMRF receives $14.5 million grant from NIH to continue research on anthrax

The National Institutes of Health has awarded the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation a five-year, $14.5 million grant to continue its research on anthrax and the bacteria's effects on humans.

21 Aug 2014

Houston Methodist researchers receive $1.6M from NIH to study pathological antibodies

Transplant immunologists at the Houston Methodist Research Institute will receive about $1.6 million over four years from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to study pathological antibodies produced from activated memory B cells during the chronic rejection of organ transplants.

20 Aug 2014

Scientists identify biomarker strongly associated with aggressive breast cancer

Two Northwestern University scientists have identified a biomarker strongly associated with basal-like breast cancer, a highly aggressive carcinoma that is resistant to many types of chemotherapy. The biomarker, a protein called STAT3, provides a smart target for new therapeutics designed to treat this often deadly cancer.

20 Aug 2014

Research finds stronger weapon against leprosy and tuberculosis

In many parts of the world, leprosy and tuberculosis live side-by-side. Worldwide there are approximately 233,000 new cases of leprosy per year, with nearly all of them occurring where tuberculosis is endemic.

20 Aug 2014

Researchers shed light on the dual action of aspirin

Hugely popular non-steroidal anti-inflammation drugs like aspirin, naproxen (marketed as Aleve) and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) all work by inhibiting or killing an enzyme called cyclooxygenase - a key catalyst in production of hormone-like lipid compounds called prostaglandins that are linked to a variety of ailments, from headaches and arthritis to menstrual cramps and wound sepsis.

19 Aug 2014

New study shows how immune system developed in the course of evolution

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics (MPI-IE) in Freiburg re-activated expression of an ancient gene, which is not normally expressed in the mammalian immune system, and found that the animals developed a fish-like thymus.

19 Aug 2014