Immunodeficiency News and Research

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Immunodeficiency (or immune deficiency) is a state in which the immune system's ability to fight infectious disease is compromised or entirely absent.

Study calls for effective strategies to contain potential HDV epidemic in high-risk populations

Researchers from Taiwan determined that individuals with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or those who inject illicit drugs have a higher risk of becoming infected with the hepatitis D virus (HDV) in that country.

22 Apr 2015

Nielsen BioSciences launches skin test that helps physicians manage Valley Fever infections

Nielsen BioSciences announced today the launch of SPHERUSOL (Coccidioides immitis Spherule-Derived Skin Test Antigen), a skin test that provides valuable data to physicians managing Valley Fever infections. SPHERUSOL has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as the only skin test to detect an immune response to the fungus called Coccidioides, or "cocci," in patients with history of the disease.

9 Apr 2015

Prolong Pharmaceuticals' SANGUINATE granted FDA Orphan Drug Designation for SCD treatment

Prolong Pharmaceuticals, LLC, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing products for the treatment of anemias, cancers and their debilitating comorbidities, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Orphan Drug Designation for its flagship product SANGUINATE for the treatment of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).

8 Apr 2015

New approach allows researchers to trap and watch highly motile cells

Optical imaging of highly motile cells or cells in suspension, such as bacterial systems, yeast cells, and immune cells, is a challenging task, in many cases it is just not possible. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), for example, can spread very efficiently from an infected T cell to an uninfected T cell through direct cell-cell contact.

31 Mar 2015

Study: New gene therapy safe, effective for patients with hemophilia B

A multi-year, ongoing study suggests that a new kind of gene therapy for hemophilia B could be safe and effective for human patients. Published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, the research showed that a reprogrammed retrovirus could successfully transfer new factor IX (clotting) genes into animals with hemophilia B to dramatically decrease spontaneous bleeding.

12 Mar 2015

Finding could lead to more effective, less invasive treatment for 'bubble boy' disease

For infants with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), something as simple as a common cold or ear infection can be fatal. Born with an incomplete immune system, kids who have SCID--also known as "bubble boy" or "bubble baby" disease--can't fight off even the mildest of germs.

12 Mar 2015

Salk scientists move one step closer to creating drug that could prevent HIV virus

Imagine a single drug that could prevent human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, treat patients who have already contracted HIV, and even remove all the dormant copies of the virus from those with the more advanced disease. It sounds like science fiction, but Salk scientists have gotten one step closer to creating such a drug by customizing a powerful defense system used by many bacteria and training this scissor-like machinery to recognize the HIV virus.

10 Mar 2015

Researchers study effects of pregnancy weight gain on childhood obesity risk among multi-ethnic youth

Unhealthy weight gain in pregnancy has been linked with infant size and body composition but until now little was known about its long-term association with childhood obesity among low-income and multi-ethnic youth.

10 Mar 2015

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics highlights positive effects of human milk on infants, maternal health

Human milk provides the best nutrition for most babies and breastfeeding provides the best nutrition for infants and very young children, according to an updated position paper from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

6 Mar 2015

Scientists find gorilla origins in two human AIDS virus lineages

Two of the four known groups of human AIDS viruses (HIV-1 groups O and P) have originated in western lowland gorillas, according to an international team of scientists from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Montpellier, the University of Edinburgh, and others.

3 Mar 2015

Genomics researchers discover novel gene variants in childhood CVID

Genomics researchers analyzing a rare, serious immunodeficiency disease in children have discovered links to a gene crucial to the body's defense against infections. The finding may represent an inviting target for drugs to treat common variable immunodeficiency (CVID).

27 Feb 2015

Scientists develop promising new HIV vaccine agent

In a study that involved researchers from over a dozen institutions, the anti-HIV agent protected monkeys from every strain of HIV-1, HIV-2 and SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus) for at least 34 weeks.

19 Feb 2015

New molecule shows promise in controlling HIV without using daily antiretroviral drugs

Scientists have created a new molecule that shows promise for controlling HIV without daily antiretroviral drugs. The molecule foils a wider range of HIV strains in the laboratory than any known broadly neutralizing HIV antibody and is more powerful than some of the most potent of these antibodies.

19 Feb 2015

TSRI scientists develop new drug candidate against HIV

In a remarkable new advance against the virus that causes AIDS, scientists from the Jupiter, Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have announced the creation of a novel drug candidate that is so potent and universally effective, it might work as part of an unconventional vaccine.

18 Feb 2015

TUSM researchers awarded $7.4 million to study brain impairment in patients infected with HIV

Researchers at Temple University School of Medicine have been awarded a $7.4 million, five-year grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to determine how cocaine and HIV-1 interact to cause brain impairment in patients infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.

11 Feb 2015

CWRU researcher receives $3.9 million grant for HIV research

A researcher at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine has been awarded $3.9 million to determine if the combination of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and drug abuse is a double kick in the gut, leading to organ damage throughout the body.

10 Feb 2015

UCSD professor wins 2015 Japan Prize

Theodore Friedmann, MD, professor in the Department of Pediatrics at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine was named today one of three recipients of the 2015 Japan Prize, a prestigious international award honoring laureates whose "original and outstanding achievements in science and technology have advanced the frontiers of knowledge and served the cause of peace and prosperity for mankind.

29 Jan 2015

Johnson & Johnson announces sales of $18.3 billion for Q4 2014

Johnson & Johnson today announced sales of $18.3 billion for the fourth quarter of 2014, a decrease of 0.6% as compared to the fourth quarter of 2013. Operational results increased 3.9% and the negative impact of currency was 4.5%. Domestic sales increased 7.4%.

20 Jan 2015

Using HIV drugs to treat AMD: an interview with Dr Mark Young

NRTIs are compounds which were originally developed in the 1960s as anti-cancer agents. They are similar in structure to the bases which make up DNA, and it was hoped that they would interfere with DNA replication in fast-growing cancer cells, slowing down or stopping tumour growth.

7 Jan 2015

Janssen, Gilead to jointly develop darunavir-based, single-tablet regimen for HIV treatment

Janssen R&D Ireland announced today an amendment to its existing agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc., initially established in 2011, for the development of a once daily, darunavir-based, single-tablet regimen (STR) for the treatment of people living with HIV.

29 Dec 2014