Immune Response News and Research

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Research offers new hope in helping elderly fight infections

Thousands of infections could be prevented each year in older people and hospital stays reduced following findings from two studies which show that imbalances in the immune systems of people aged over 65 make them more prone to illnesses like flu or bacterial infections as a result of cuts and falls.

21 Jul 2006

Biomira Stimuvax prostate cancer study results published

Biomira Inc. has announced publication of study results showing that Stimuvax, formerly known as BLP25 Liposome Vaccine or L-BLP25, could slow rising Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) levels in some post-surgical prostate cancer patients

20 Jul 2006

Conjugate vaccines for preventing meningococcal C meningitis and septicaemia

A new systematic review suggests that a certain kind of vaccine may help to protect babies and small children from a devastating killer: meningococcal meningitis.

19 Jul 2006

Researchers find protein associated with brain cell death

Neuroscientists at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine have found evidence of which protein in the brain's immune cells triggers a cascade of reactions that produces unregulated free radical production that eventually leads to the neural cell death found in Alzheimer's disease.

19 Jul 2006

Simple blood test detects lung cancer before it's too late

Researchers in the United States have developed a blood test that is able to correctly predict non-small-cell lung cancer in patients years before any CT scan (computed tomography) can trace it.

17 Jul 2006

Researchers discover two-way communication and stimulation between blood stem cells and T cells

When a transplant patient suffers complications such as graft rejection or graft-versus-host disease, physicians attempt to stop the body's immune response by targeting a patient's T cells.

13 Jul 2006

NIAID program aims to model immune responses and key infectious diseases

A new program at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) aims to better understand the complex biochemical networks that regulate the interactions between infectious organisms and the human or animal cells they infect.

12 Jul 2006

Natural mechanism protecting tissue allografts from rejection

A molecule expressed during pregnancy seems to turn down the immune system, making it more tolerant of welcome visitors such as a fetus or maybe a transplanted heart, researchers say.

10 Jul 2006

Brits to trial bird flu vaccine on humans

The British drug company PowderMed has applied for permission to conduct the first trial in Britain of a vaccine against the avian flu virus.

10 Jul 2006

Celiac success: New enzyme efficiently degrades gluten

A new enzyme originally developed for commercial food processing turns out to also quickly and nearly-completely break down whole gluten molecules as well as the T cell stimulatory peptides that cause celiac disease, a digestive disease with no current effective treatment other than avoiding wheat, barley or rye products.

5 Jul 2006

Aussies trial promising bird flu vaccine

An Australian vaccine against the deadly bird flu has shown such good results in preliminary trials that researchers are about to test it on volunteers.

29 Jun 2006

Australian team test new bird flu vaccine

Australian researchers have begun a trial to test the effectiveness of a new vaccine to protect against the potentially deadly bird flu.

28 Jun 2006

Genetically-engineered antivenom to improve the treatment of snake bite

Important breakthrough in using DNA sequencing rather than actual snake venom as the means to generate antivenom.

27 Jun 2006

Having older brothers a factor in boys becoming gay

New research says that boys have a greater chance of becoming gay if they have older brothers.

27 Jun 2006

Researchers identify gene used to recognize pathogens

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have identified a gene in the Anopheles gambiae mosquito's DNA that is central to the insect's ability to defend against infectious pathogens, including Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria in humans.

27 Jun 2006

Researchers identify gene used to recognize pathogens

Researchers have identified a gene in the Anopheles gambiae mosquito's DNA that is central to the insect's ability to defend against infectious pathogens, including Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria in humans.

20 Jun 2006

AIDS might be an accident of evolution

The virulence characteristic of HIV-1 - the virus predominantly responsible for human AIDS - might amount to an accident of evolution, new evidence reveals.

18 Jun 2006

Scientists cracking virus protection shield

Scientists reveal the structure of a protein that packages the viral genome and helps viruses to replicate while avoiding human immune reactions

18 Jun 2006

Bioinformatics used to advance human disease research

The use of computers to advance human disease research - known as bioinformatics -- has received a major boost from researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology (LIAI).

18 Jun 2006

How cow warts, clergy sex surveys moved along cervical cancer vaccine

The creation of a successful vaccine against cervical cancer, approved today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is the culmination of research that occurred thanks not only to scientists and physicians, but also to generous farmers and veterinarians, priests and nuns willing to tell all - and some very patient cows.

9 Jun 2006