Immune System News and Research

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Scientists pursue new therapies as H7N9 flu spreads in China

An experimental drug has shown promise in treating influenza, preventing lung injury and death from the virus in preclinical studies, according to University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers publishing in the journal Nature on May 1.

2 May 2013

HCV screening of prison inmate drug users: an interview with Dr. Arthur Kim, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Prisoners overall have a very high rate of past or present injection drug use, which is a major risk factor for HCV infection due to repeated exposures to needles.

1 May 2013

Study examines link between serum vitamin D3, risk of contracting pneumonia

A University of Eastern Finland study showed that low serum vitamin D levels are a risk factor for pneumonia. The risk of contracting pneumonia was more than 2.5 times greater in subjects with the lowest vitamin D levels than in subjects with high vitamin D levels.

30 Apr 2013

Researchers say tiny thymus teaches immune system to ignore foreign bacteria in gut

The tiny thymus teaches the immune system to ignore the teeming, foreign bacteria in the gut that helps you digest and absorb food, researchers say.

30 Apr 2013

Skin cancer may increase subsequent primary malignancy risk

Research suggests that people with non-melanoma skin cancer are at moderately increased risk for developing other primary malignancies in the future, particularly breast and lung cancer and melanoma.

29 Apr 2013

Opsona raises €33M in oversubscribed financing round

Opsona Therapeutics Limited, the innate immune drug development company, today announced that it has raised €33 million (US $ 43 million) in an oversubscribed Series C financing.

29 Apr 2013

Transgene announces pre-clinical data of TG1050 for treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection

Transgene SA, a biopharmaceutical company that develops targeted immunotherapy products to treat major unmet medical needs in cancer and chronic infectious diseases, announced pre-clinical data obtained with its novel immunotherapeutic, TG1050, to treat chronic hepatitis B infection.

29 Apr 2013

Research shows how pregnancy lowers risk of breast cancer

Being pregnant while young is known to protect a women against breast cancer. But why? Research in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research finds that Wnt/Notch signalling ratio is decreased in the breast tissue of mice which have given birth, compared to virgin mice of the same age.

29 Apr 2013

GS-9620 therapy suppresses hepatitis B virus infection

A novel drug developed by Gilead Sciences and tested in an animal model at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio suppresses hepatitis B virus infection by stimulating the immune system and inducing loss of infected cells.

29 Apr 2013

Protein C4BP is possibly suitable as transporter for drugs, say researchers

The protein C4BP is similar to a spider in its spatial form with eight "arms". The structure of the "spider body" has recently been described in detail by researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig and the Technische Universit-t Darmstadt.

29 Apr 2013

New treatment options for influenza

The flu is caused by an infection with the influenza virus, which mainly attacks the upper respiratory tract - the nose, throat and bronchi and rarely also the lungs. According to the World Health Organization, around five to 15 percent of the population are affected by upper respiratory tract infections during seasonal flu outbreaks, and between 250 000-500 000 people die of the illness every year.

29 Apr 2013

UH professor wins grant to develop promising therapies for melanoma

A University of Houston engineering professor has won a grant from the Melanoma Research Alliance to help develop one of the most promising therapies for patients with the disease.

29 Apr 2013

BIOMARGIN research project aims to prevent, diagnose lesions in transplanted kidneys

The BIOMARGIN (BIOMArkers of Renal Graft INjuries in kidney allograft recipients) research project, coordinated by INSERM, has just received financing from the "health" seventh framework programme of the European Commission to the tune of 6 million euros for a four-year period.

29 Apr 2013

Antihistamine drugs work by preventing histamine from attaching to H1 receptors

Itchy eyes, scratchy throat, running nose--it's allergy season! What triggers these allergic reactions, and how do allergy medications work?

26 Apr 2013

Genes play role in wound healing, regulate biological processes in human skin

Biologists at UC San Diego have identified eight genes never before suspected to play a role in wound healing that are called into action near the areas where wounds occur.

26 Apr 2013

First Edition: April 26, 2013

Today's headlines include reports that some Democratic senators have concerns about the health law's roll out as well as other news about the measure's implementation.

26 Apr 2013

New research collaboration may help in developing TB vaccine for bovines and humans

Scientists at The University of Nottingham are studying whether harmful bacteria found in cattle could be harnessed to protect livestock from the devastating disease bovine tuberculosis (TB).

26 Apr 2013

Immudex signs agreement to provide MHC-peptide multimer and Elispot proficiency panel services

Immudex has entered into a strategic agreement with the US Cancer Immunotherapy Consortium (CIC) of the Cancer Research Institute, and the European Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT), under which Immudex will provide MHC-peptide multimer and Elispot proficiency panel services worldwide.

26 Apr 2013

GI nematode infections combat obesity and improve related metabolic disorders

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, have shown in a mouse model that infection with nematodes (also known as roundworms) can not only combat obesity but ameliorate related metabolic disorders.

26 Apr 2013

New strain of bird flu poses pandemic threat

The World Health Organization (WHO) is calling the new strain of H7H9 influenza virus "lethal" and The University of Kansas Hospital is preparing now for any potential cases.

26 Apr 2013