Antibody News and Research

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An antibody is a blood protein that is produced in response to and counteracts an antigen. Antibodies are produced in response to disease and help the body fight against the particular disease. In this way, antibodies help the body develop an immunity to disease.

Forget swine flu - whooping cough far more of a worry!

Queensland Health authorities say there has been a surge in the number of whooping cough cases in far north Queensland - according to health officials there have been 205 cases of the disease in the state's far north already this year, seven times higher than the same time last year and Dr. Steven Donohue at the Tropical Population Health Service is warning parents to have their children immunised.

24 Jun 2009

Microbial and maternal influences on allergic sensitization during childhood

When infected, the body has two types of immune defence to deploy - innate immunity and acquired immunity. In her dissertation, Shanie Saghafian Hedengren studies monocytes, a type of white blood corpuscles that are part of the innate immune system.

23 Jun 2009

HIV antibody tests unreliable for early infections in teens

A previously healthy teenager shows up at the doctor's office with a sore throat, fever, aches and general malaise. Routine blood tests are normal, an HIV test comes back negative, and the pediatrician sends the patient home with a diagnosis of acute viral infection.

21 Jun 2009

Seattle Genetics starts trial of SGN-35 for anaplastic large cell lymphoma

Seattle Genetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGEN), has announced that it has initiated a phase II clinical trial of SGN-35 for patients with relapsed or refractory systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (ALCL). SGN-35 is an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) that utilizes Seattle Genetics’ proprietary technology to empower antibodies by linking them to potent cell-killing drugs.

18 Jun 2009

Circadian Technologies granted significant European patent

Circadian Technologies Limited (ASX:CIR) announced today that its subsidiary company, Vegenics Limited, has been granted European Patent 1749836 covering the use of VEGF-D protein and antibodies to VEGF-D in a broad spectrum of therapeutic indications, including the treatment of cancer.

17 Jun 2009

Pneumococcal vaccine effective in preventing severe pneumonia

A new trial has found that pneumococcal vaccine is effective in preventing severe pneumonia, the leading cause of death among children in developing countries. Co-ordinated by the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) between 2000 and 2004, a large scale efficacy trial - first of its kind in Asia - was carried out in the Philippines to investigate the effect of an investigational pneumococcal vaccine.

16 Jun 2009

Inflammation of microglia may not be associated with dementia in Alzheimer's disease

The idea that anti-inflammatory drugs might protect people struggling with dementia from Alzheimer's disease has received a blow with the online release of a study of human brain tissue in Acta Neuropathologica.

15 Jun 2009

Discovery of key molecular target in age-related macular degeneration

A team of researchers led by Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati at the University of Kentucky has discovered a biological marker for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in older adults.

15 Jun 2009

Discovery of DNA mutation that occurs at beginning point of T-cell lymphoma

Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) have identified a key mechanism that causes chromosomes within blood cells to break - an occurrence that marks the first step in the development of human lymphoma.

13 Jun 2009

‘Designer molecules’ being developed to fight disease

Researchers in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Leicester are developing a new way to make protein based drugs with potential applications in stroke, vascular inflammation, blood vessel formation, regenerative medicine and tissue engineering.

11 Jun 2009

New insights into causes of multiple sclerosis

Over 100,000 people suffer from multiple sclerosis in Germany alone. Despite intensive research, the factors that trigger the disease and influence its progress remain unclear.

10 Jun 2009

Mouse experiments shed light on age effects in arthritis

Older mice are more susceptible to proteoglycan-induced arthritis (PGIA). Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Immunity & Ageing have shown, for the first time, that young mice are completely resistant, but become fully susceptible to the disease with age.

10 Jun 2009

New understanding of structure of bacteria responsible for traveler's diarrhea

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), the Naval Medical Research Center and the National Institutes of Health, have solved the structure of thin hair-like fibers called "pili" or "fimbriae" on the surface of bacteria that cause traveler's diarrhea.

9 Jun 2009

Drug derived from the hydrangea root shows promise for autoimmune disorders

A drug derived from the hydrangea root, used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine, shows promise in treating autoimmune disorders, report researchers from the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine and the Immune Disease Institute at Children's Hospital Boston (PCMM/IDI), along with the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.

4 Jun 2009

Research looks at relationship between bone density and erosion in arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, affects almost three percent of people over age 65. RA patients experience pain, functional limitations and two forms of disabling bone disease: focal erosions and osteoporosis.

1 Jun 2009

Smoking and genetics play role in rheumatoid arthritis

Recent genetic studies have revealed several new sites of genes that are risk factors for developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

1 Jun 2009

Interleukin-2 shows promise against advanced melanoma

A vaccine for one of the most lethal cancers, advanced melanoma, has shown improved response rates and progression-free survival for patients when combined with the immunotherapy drug, Interleukin-2, according to researchers from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.

1 Jun 2009