Immune Response News and Research

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May hepatic granulomas be part of the histological spectrum of chronic hepatitis C?

While older large series of patients with hepatic granulomas have found sarcoidosis and tuberculosis to be the most common causes of hepatic granulomas, recent works have noted some patients with chronic hepatic C and hepatic granulomas and no other obvious associations.

30 Dec 2008

Immunogenicity and safety of human papillomavirus vaccine in healthy boys

New industry-supported research from Finland suggests that Cervarix, an HPV vaccine given to girls in Europe and elsewhere, is safe for boys as well.

21 Dec 2008

Merck KGaA acquires manufacturing rights for Stimuvax from Oncothyreon

Oncothyreon Inc. announced today that Merck KGaA of Darmstadt, Germany has licensed the right to manufacture Stimuvax and, through its affiliate EMD Serono Canada Inc., purchased current inventory and certain assets utilized for the manufacture of Stimuvax from Oncothyreon for consideration which includes net payments to Oncothyreon totaling approximately U.S. $13 million.

18 Dec 2008

Dieting may help reduce the risk of gum disease, mostly in men

For men, especially older men, dieting may help reduce the risk of gum disease more than for women, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland, Baltimore and other institutions.

17 Dec 2008

New anti-tumor gene called SARI

Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University have identified a new anti-tumor gene called SARI that can interact with and suppress a key protein that is overexpressed in 90 percent of human cancers.

16 Dec 2008

Discovery of promising new target in the battle against colorectal cancer

University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston researchers have identified a promising new target in the battle against colorectal cancer - a biochemical pathway critical to the spread of tumors to new locations in the body.

15 Dec 2008

Research suggests that immunity is stronger at night

The immune system's battle against invading bacteria reaches its peak activity at night and is lowest during the day.

14 Dec 2008

Novavax announces positive results in trial of seasonal influenza VLP (trivalent) vaccine candidate

Novavax, Inc. has announced favorable results from a Phase IIa human clinical trial of its seasonal influenza VLP (trivalent) vaccine candidate.

12 Dec 2008

Enzyme that mutates antibodies also targets cancer-causing gene

The human immune system is in a perpetual state of self-experimentation. It expertly mutates and shuffles the DNA of its own cells to evolve new defenses against the vast array of microbes that try to invade our bodies.

12 Dec 2008

Enzyme that mutates antibodies also targets a cancer-causing oncogene

Rockefeller University scientists have discovered that the same enzyme that enables the immune system's defensive creativity is also responsible for a particular genetic malfunction - a translocation of one piece of DNA to the wrong chromosome - that causes Burkitt's lymphoma.

12 Dec 2008

Mathematical models of adaptive immunity

More than five million people die every year from infectious diseases, despite the availability of numerous antibiotics and vaccines. The discovery of penicillin to treat bacterial infections, along with the development of vaccines for previously incurable virus diseases such as polio and smallpox, achieved great reductions in mortality during the mid-20th century.

11 Dec 2008

An enzyme that mutates antibodies also targets a cancer-causing oncogene

11 Dec 2008

Genetic links found between type 1 diabetes and celiac disease

Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes and celiac disease appear to share a common genetic origin, scientists at the University of Cambridge and Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, have confirmed.

10 Dec 2008

RNA interference can facilitate vaccine development

Pharmaceutical companies and universities are racing to develop drugs that use the gene silencing mechanism known as RNA interference to treat a host of diseases.

10 Dec 2008

Scans show immune cells intercepting parasites

Researchers may have identified one of the body's earliest responses to a group of parasites that causes illness in developing nations.

10 Dec 2008

Blocking immune receptor molecule improves response to HIV-like virus, prolongs survival in monkeys

By blocking PD-1 (programmed death-1), an immune receptor molecule known to inhibit the immune response to chronic viral infections, scientists have safely and significantly reduced the plasma viral load and also prolonged survival of rhesus macaque monkeys severely infected with simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV), the nonhuman primate version of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

10 Dec 2008

Researchers hunt for a hi-tech vaccine against Helicobacter pylori

Almost half of the world population is infected with bacteria Helicobacter pylori which colonizes stomach, causing gastritis and ulcers and is recognized by WHO as a type I carcinogen.

10 Dec 2008

Vaccine against malaria could be ready in 5 years

Malaria kills more than one million people every year so the news that an effective vaccine could be available within five years is more than welcome.

9 Dec 2008

Study sheds light on inflammatory bowel disease

Scientists have uncovered vital clues about how to treat serious bowel disorders by studying the behaviour of cells in the colon.

8 Dec 2008

Half-dose vaccination in healthy young individuals may be effective in times of vaccine shortage

Individuals younger than 50 who have been previously vaccinated do not appear to have a substantially different immune response to a half-dose of influenza vaccine than to a full dose, according to a report in the December 8/22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

8 Dec 2008