White Blood Cell News and Research

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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

Metastasis can occur when leukocyte and cancer cell fuse to form genetic hybrid

Yale Cancer Center scientists, together with colleagues at the Denver Police Crime Lab and the University of Colorado, have found evidence that a human metastatic tumor can arise when a leukocyte (white blood cell) and a cancer cell fuse to form a genetic hybrid.

3 Jul 2013

Research shows DHA found in fish oil can reduce inflammation

Bethesda, MD-Chronic inflammation is a major factor in a wide range of problems from arthritis to cardiovascular disease, and DHA (found in fish oil) is known to temper this problem. A new research report appearing in the July 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal, helps explain why DHA is important in reducing inflammation, and provides an important lead to finding new drugs that will help bring people back to optimal health.

2 Jul 2013

New procedure to treat acid reflux can prevent chronic rejection in lung transplant patients

A Loyola University Medical Center study suggests that a procedure to treat acid reflux could help prevent chronic rejection in lung transplant patients.

30 Jun 2013

New device that measures movement of immune cells may reduce risk of septic complications

Advances in emergency medicine and trauma surgery have had a significant impact on survival of patients in the days immediately after major injuries, including burns. Patients who survive the immediate aftermath of their injuries now are at greatest risk from infections - particularly the overwhelming, life-threatening immune reaction known as sepsis - or from inflammation-induced multiorgan failure.

20 Jun 2013

Researchers to launch Phase II clinical trial to investigate potential new therapy for sickle cell anemia

Seeking to improve the lives of sickle cell anemia sufferers around the world, researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, the Dana-Farber/Children's Hospital Cancer Center in Boston and the BloodCenter of Wisconsin in Milwaukee and others are preparing to launch Phase II of a clinical trial to investigate a potential new therapy for reducing the disorder's severest symptoms.

12 Jun 2013

Hybrid molecular imaging technique helps doctors identify diabetic foot infection

Researchers are kick-starting better diabetic foot care and promoting reduced radiation dose with a new take on a hybrid molecular imaging technique. By targeting both bone cell activity and immune response and improving imaging data interpretation, doctors can better distinguish diabetic foot infection from another common foot condition that often requires an additional bone-marrow scan for definitive diagnosis, say researchers presenting a study at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's 2013 Annual Meeting.

12 Jun 2013

Data points to potential role of immunosuppression in protecting organs from inflammation after injury

In the largest study of its kind, physicians from the Department of Surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center at the University of Maryland Medical Center have determined that outcomes for traumatic injury in patients with organ transplants are not worse than for non-transplanted patients, despite common presumptions among physicians.

11 Jun 2013

Genetic testing of chronic neutrophilic leukemia reveals presence of new mutation in patients

A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine describes genetic testing of a rare blood cancer called atypical chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL) that revealed a new mutation present in most patients with the disease.

7 Jun 2013