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Alefacept drug shows encouraging results in phase 2 trial for type 1 diabetes

A drug formerly used to treat the skin disorder psoriasis has shown encouraging results in a phase 2 trial to assess its effectiveness in treating type 1 diabetes, according to new research published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

24 Sep 2013

Oil spill exposure appears to play role in development of hematologic and hepatic toxicity

A new study reports that workers exposed to crude oil and dispersants used during the Gulf oil spill cleanup display significantly altered blood profiles, liver enzymes, and somatic symptoms compared to an unexposed control group.

17 Sep 2013

Researchers identify new link between meal times and daily changes in immune system

A new link between meal times and daily changes in the immune system has been identified by UC San Francisco researchers, and has led them to question assumptions about the roles of specific immune cells in infection and allergy.

17 Sep 2013

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) research: an interview with Dr. Griffin Rodgers, NIDDK director

Chronic granulomatous disease, or CGD, is a diverse group of inherited diseases in which certain cells of the immune system have difficulty forming reactive oxygen compounds, most importantly superoxide radicals. These are used by these white blood cells to kill certain bacteria.

3 Sep 2013

Findings could alter ways in which doctors use platelets to treat traumatic injuries

A new finding could lead to novel treatments to reduce bleeding in trauma and severe infections.

2 Sep 2013

Researchers reveal process by which pancreatic inflammation morphs into pancreatic cancer

Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida have revealed the process by which chronic inflammation of the pancreas, pancreatitis, morphs into pancreatic cancer. They say their findings point to ways to identify pancreatitis patients at risk of pancreatic cancer and to potential drug therapies that might reverse the process.

6 Aug 2013

Specific mutations in FLT3 receptor can contribute to acute myeloid leukemia

Specific mutations (N676K) in the FLT3 receptor can contribute to the development of acute myeloid leukemia. The FLT3 receptor regulates cell growth, while activating gene mutations promote the uncontrolled proliferation of white blood cells. These findings were reported in the specialist journal Blood by a group of scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Hospital of the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich as part of a clinical research collaboration with the German Cancer Consortium.

3 Aug 2013

Combating antibiotic resistance: an interview with Ron Najafi, CEO NovaBay Pharmaceuticals

Approximately 80 years ago the first antibiotic was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming, for which he was justifiably awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine.

2 Aug 2013

Deletion of a protein improves ability to fight bacteria in mice with CGD

Deletion of a protein in white blood cells improves their ability to fight the bacteria staphylococcus aureus and possibly other infections in mice with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD), according to a National Institutes of Health study. CGD, a genetic disorder also found in people, is marked by recurrent, life-threatening infections. The study's findings appear online in The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

2 Aug 2013

Manchester scientists treat fatal genetic brain disease using stem cell gene therapy

Scientists from The University of Manchester have used stem cell gene therapy to treat a fatal genetic brain disease in mice for the first time.

From The University of Manchester 25 Jul 2013

Fibromyalgia diagnosis: an interview with Dr. Bruce Gillis, CEO of EpicGenetics

Presently, it is a diagnosis of exclusion. Patients end up spending, according to what’s been published in the medical literature, as many as 3 - 5 years going from doctor to doctor seeking a diagnosis because they tend to have nonspecific symptoms of a subjective nature.

23 Jul 2013

New class of WBCs in human lung and gut tissues play a critical role against fungal infections

Scientists at A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) have discovered a new class of white blood cells in human lung and gut tissues that play a critical role as the first line of defence against harmful fungal and bacterial infections.

18 Jul 2013

White blood cells and the spread of cancer: an interview with Drs. Lorenzo Ferri and Jonathan Cools-Lartigue, McGill University

As surgeons who take care of cancer patients, we have observed a troubling association between patients who suffer from infections after surgery and the rapid spread of their cancer. We have reported this in lung cancer patients, and others have made these observations in a variety of different cancers. However, the mechanisms responsible for this association are still poorly understood.

16 Jul 2013

Researchers distinguish viral and bacterial infections in children with fever

In children with fever but no other symptoms of illness, it is difficult to know whether a child has a viral infection that will resolve on its own or a potentially serious bacterial infection that requires antibiotics.

16 Jul 2013

Scientists successfully transplant insulin-producing cells from one species to another

In the first step toward animal-to-human transplants of insulin-producing cells for people with type 1 diabetes, Northwestern Medicine- scientists have successfully transplanted islets, the cells that produce insulin, from one species to another. And the islets survived without immunosuppressive drugs.

15 Jul 2013

Researchers identify new cellular source for disease-fighting protein

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center report the identification of a new cellular source for an important disease-fighting protein used in the body's earliest response to infection.

11 Jul 2013

Study identifies new groups of people at risk of parasitic lung infection

A study conducted by Dr. James Diaz, Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine and Program Director of the Environmental/Occupational Health Sciences Program at the LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Public Health, analyzed cases of a parasitic lung infection and found new modes of transmission and associated behaviors, identifying new groups of people at risk.

11 Jul 2013

Innovative vaccine could offer hope to patients with advanced ovarian cancer

Loyola University Medical Center is conducting a clinical trial of an innovative vaccine that could offer hope to patients with advanced ovarian cancer.

10 Jul 2013

ERC awards grants to boost research on vaccines

Vaccination has achieved huge success in controlling many devastating infectious diseases. However, there are still many such diseases, or 'pathogens', against which we cannot generate life-long protective immunity.

9 Jul 2013

CTI announces publication of preclinical, clinical data for pacritinib in Drugs of the Future 2013

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that a comprehensive article summarizing preclinical and clinical data for pacritinib, an oral JAK2/FLT3 inhibitor, authored by Srdan Verstovsek, M.D., Ph.D., et al., was published in the journal Drugs of the Future 2013.

3 Jul 2013