Immune System News and Research

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Researchers identify molecular switch that can avoid inflammation

Our immune system is vital to us and can sometimes overreact causing chronic illnesses, such as for instance rheumatism and allergy. Now, researchers from Umeå University and University of Gothenburg have identified a molecular switch - MYSM1 - that can suppress such an overreaction and avoid inflammation.

14 Oct 2015

New hope for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

New hope for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) patients. A mouse genetic study in PLoS Medicine reports that targeting the P2RX7 gene, a purinoreceptor, may halt the progression of DMD.

14 Oct 2015

How important is a mother’s diet before pregnancy? An interview with Dr Matt Silver

In humans, much is already known about the impact of maternal undernutrition during pregnancy, and its impact on growth, development and disease throughout the life course. However, until recently little was known about the effects of the nutritional environment around the time of conception.

14 Oct 2015

Tips to treat, prevent common warts

Warts aren't just for witches and goblins. According to member dermatologists from the American Academy of Dermatology, children and teens, people who frequently bite their nails, and people with a weakened immune system are more prone to getting warts than others.

14 Oct 2015

Bacterium that causes Q fever associated with increased risk of lymphoma

The bacterium that causes Q fever, an infectious disease that humans contract from animals, is associated with an increased risk of lymphoma, according to a study published online today in Blood, the Journal of the American Society of Hematology.

13 Oct 2015

Lilly, ImaginAb partner to study potential novel T-cell-based immuno-oncology therapies

Eli Lilly and Company and ImaginAb Inc. are pleased to announce a preclinical research collaboration to study potential novel T-cell-based immuno-oncology therapies.

13 Oct 2015

Tamoxifen drug clears MRSA, reduces mortality

Researchers at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences have found that the breast cancer drug tamoxifen gives white blood cells a boost, better enabling them to respond to, ensnare and kill bacteria in laboratory experiments. Tamoxifen treatment in mice also enhances clearance of the antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogen MRSA and reduces mortality.

13 Oct 2015

Men on effective HIV therapy less likely to get HBV infection, shows research

Previous studies of individuals with HIV have suggested that HIV drug regimens that included drugs active against hepatitis B virus (HBV) can decrease the risk of infection with the liver-damaging HBV.

13 Oct 2015

Scientists create 3D image of key protein involved in blood and other cancer development

Scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have created the first three-dimensional image of a key protein known to be involved in the development of blood and other cancers.

13 Oct 2015

Study identifies four distinct types of bowel cancer

Bowel cancer can be divided up into four distinct diseases, each with its own set of biological characteristics, a major new study reports.

12 Oct 2015

Researchers find protein that plays crucial role in development of allergic airway inflammation

Allergies are becoming more commonplace, particularly in industrialised coun-tries. In addition to hay fever, allergic asthma is currently considered to be one of the most widespread allergies. UFZ researchers and their colleagues from the University of Leipzig have recently been successful in finding a protein that plays a critical role in the development of allergic airway inflammation.

12 Oct 2015

Human malaria parasite molecules share key gene segments with chimp, gorilla malaria parasites

The malaria parasite molecules associated with severe disease and death--those that allow the parasite to escape recognition by the immune system--have been shown to share key gene segments with chimp and gorilla malaria parasites, which are separated by several millions of years, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

12 Oct 2015

Antiviral agent protects rhesus monkeys from deadly Ebola virus

Rhesus monkeys were completely protected from the deadly Ebola virus when treated three days after infection with a compound that blocks the virus's ability to replicate. These encouraging preclinical results suggest the compound, known as GS-5734, should be further developed as a potential treatment, according to research findings to be presented tomorrow at the IDWeek conference.

12 Oct 2015

UV robots help reduce rates of C. diff transmission among cancer inpatients

Robots are capable of all sorts of tasks to help better treat cancer: They connect oncologists to patients remotely, make incisions, staple them shut, deliver "nano" therapies--and they clean rooms. New research from Penn Medicine infection control specialists found that ultraviolet (UV) robots helped reduce the rates transmission of the common bacterial infection known as Clostridium difficile among cancer inpatients - mostly blood cancer patients, a group more vulnerable to hospital-acquired infections - by 25 percent. The interventions also saved about $150,000 in annual direct medical costs.

12 Oct 2015

Glycan binding proteins modify parasite infection in cells of the heart muscle

Chagas disease is the main cause of infectious heart disease in Latin America. Researchers from the INGEBI and IBYME Institutes in Argentina explored the effect of glycan binding protein interactions between the human host and Typanosoma cruzi parasite. They found that a glycan binding protein expressed in humans modified the infection in cells of the heart muscle, showing the importance of galectins in the response to parasite infection.

12 Oct 2015

Single drop of blood in the brain can activate autoimmune response akin to multiple sclerosis

A new study from the Gladstone Institutes shows that a single drop of blood in the brain is sufficient to activate an autoimmune response akin to multiple sclerosis (MS). This is the first demonstration that introduction of blood in the healthy brain is sufficient to cause peripheral immune cells to enter the brain, which then go on to cause brain damage.

12 Oct 2015

Discovery may help scientists to better predict how quickly HIV virus returns after patients stop treatment

Scientists are now better able to predict how quickly the HIV virus will return after individuals stop treatment following a discovery by researchers at UNSW Australia and the University of Oxford.

12 Oct 2015

ImmunArray launches SLE-key Rule-Out test for lupus patients

Following a limited three-month trial period in which more than one hundred and fifty patients with lupus-like symptoms were tested for the difficult-to-diagnose disease, a new blood test for lupus is being rolled out nationally.

12 Oct 2015

Phase III studies show Roche's ocrelizumab reduces relapse rate, delays disability progression in MS patients

Three phase III studies being presented at the European Committee for Treatment Research in Multiple Sclerosis congress demonstrate that treating MS with ocrelizumab reduces relapse rate and delay onset of disability progression compared to interferon beta-1a in relapsing forms of MS and disability progression in primary progressive MS compared to placebo.

12 Oct 2015

Study looks at survival benefits of surgical resection for melanoma patients with abdominal metastases

Patients with metastatic melanoma who undergo surgery to remove lesions that have spread into the abdomen live more than twice as long as those treated with drug therapy alone, according to novel new research by a North Shore-LIJ Health System cancer surgeon.

12 Oct 2015

Immune System News and Research

Researchers identify molecular switch that can avoid inflammation

New hope for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy

How important is a mother’s diet before pregnancy? An interview with Dr Matt Silver

Tips to treat, prevent common warts

Bacterium that causes Q fever associated with increased risk of lymphoma

Lilly, ImaginAb partner to study potential novel T-cell-based immuno-oncology therapies

Tamoxifen drug clears MRSA, reduces mortality

Men on effective HIV therapy less likely to get HBV infection, shows research

Scientists create 3D image of key protein involved in blood and other cancer development

Study identifies four distinct types of bowel cancer

Researchers find protein that plays crucial role in development of allergic airway inflammation

Human malaria parasite molecules share key gene segments with chimp, gorilla malaria parasites

Antiviral agent protects rhesus monkeys from deadly Ebola virus

UV robots help reduce rates of C. diff transmission among cancer inpatients

Glycan binding proteins modify parasite infection in cells of the heart muscle

Single drop of blood in the brain can activate autoimmune response akin to multiple sclerosis

Discovery may help scientists to better predict how quickly HIV virus returns after patients stop treatment

ImmunArray launches SLE-key Rule-Out test for lupus patients

Phase III studies show Roche's ocrelizumab reduces relapse rate, delays disability progression in MS patients

Study looks at survival benefits of surgical resection for melanoma patients with abdominal metastases

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