Immune System News and Research

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Specific cytokine levels altered in BD patients

Levels of certain cytokines differ between bipolar disorder patients and mentally healthy individuals, as well as between manic and euthymic patients with the mood disorder, results from a systematic review and meta-analysis show.

10 Jul 2012

ImmunoCellular receives Japanese patent allowance for brain cancer technology

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, Ltd., a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel immune-based cancer therapies, announced the allowance of a Japanese patent relating to a technology for the treatment of brain cancer for which the Company holds an exclusive, worldwide license.

10 Jul 2012

Inovio commences SynCon vaccine phase I study in H1N1 influenza

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the first patients have been treated in a clinical trial evaluating immune responses in elderly adults immunized with Inovio's H1N1 SynCon universal influenza vaccine.

10 Jul 2012

Researchers develop new silk-based stabilizer for vaccines and antibiotics

Researchers funded by the National Institutes of Health have developed a new silk-based stabilizer that, in the laboratory, kept some vaccines and antibiotics stable up to temperatures of 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

10 Jul 2012

Methylation provides signal of unique mix of leukocytes

When a person is sick, there is a tell-tale sign in their blood: a different mix of the various types of immune cells called leukocytes. A group of scientists at several institutions including Brown University has discovered a way to determine that mix from the DNA in archival or fresh blood samples, potentially providing a practical new technology not only for medical research but also for clinical diagnosis and treatment monitoring of ailments including some cancers.

10 Jul 2012

Overproduction of hepcidin appears to impair maternal-fetal iron transfer

A growing number of studies imply that children born to obese mothers face health problems stemming from the womb.

10 Jul 2012

Study clarifies anti-inflammatory impact of boswellic acids

It was one of the gifts of the Magi - in addition to myrrh and gold they offered frankincense to the newly born baby Jesus. Since the ancient world the aromatic fragrance of burning Boswellia resin has been part of many religious ceremonies and is still used as a means to indicate special festive atmosphere in the church today. But frankincense can do much more: "The resin from the trunk of Boswellia trees contains anti-inflammatory substances," Professor Dr. Oliver Werz of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) says.

10 Jul 2012

Home-based immunoglobulin therapy acceptable in primary immunodeficiency

Subcutaneous immunoglobulin therapy, administered at home, is an acceptable substitute for hospital-based intravenous immunoglobulin in patients with immune deficiencies, according to recent findings published in the Journal of Clinical Immunology.

9 Jul 2012

Alcoholic hepatitis linked to hepatitis C risk

Hepatitis C virus is more common in patients with alcoholic hepatitis than the general population, but infections may be going undetected, US data show.

9 Jul 2012

Human immune response: TCD scientists make breakthrough which could lead to new drug therapies

A team of researchers at Trinity College Dublin’s School of Medicine has gained new insights into a protein in the human immune system that plays a key role in the protective response to infection and inflammation. The research findings have just been published in the internationally renowned peer-reviewed Journal of Biological Chemistry.

9 Jul 2012

Researchers describe inflammatory mechanism of sunburn

The biological mechanism of sunburn - the reddish, painful, protective immune response from ultraviolet (UV) radiation - is a consequence of RNA damage to skin cells, report researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and elsewhere in the July 8, 2012 Advance Online Publication of Nature Medicine.

9 Jul 2012

DNA from CF patients with and without chronic infections points to unsuspected mutation

Comparing the DNA from patients at the best and worst extremes of a health condition can reveal genes for resistance and susceptibly. This approach discovered rare variations in the DCTN4 gene among cystic fibrosis patients most prone to early, chronic airway infections.

9 Jul 2012

High expression of interleukin-9 in immune cells inhibits melanoma growth

Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) have made a groundbreaking discovery that will shape the future of melanoma therapy. The team, led by Thomas S. Kupper, MD, chair of the BWH Department of Dermatology, and Rahul Purwar, PhD, found that high expression of a cell-signaling molecule, known as interleukin-9, in immune cells inhibits melanoma growth.

9 Jul 2012

Roche receives FDA approval for CMV viral load test

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first DNA test to help health care professionals gauge the progress of anti-viral treatment in solid organ transplant patients undergoing cytomegalovirus (CMV) antiviral therapy.

6 Jul 2012

FDC precursor cells exist in the wall of blood vessels

Chronic inflammatory conditions are extremely common diseases in humans and in the entire animal kingdom. Both in autoimmune diseases and pathogen-caused diseases, the inflamed areas are rapidly colonized by antibody producing B lymphocytes - which organize themselves in highly structured areas called "lymphoid follicles".

6 Jul 2012

Scientists use antibody injections to rapidly reverse onset of Type I diabetes in mice

Scientists at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine have used injections of antibodies to rapidly reverse the onset of Type I diabetes in mice genetically bred to develop the disease. Moreover, just two injections maintained disease remission indefinitely without harming the immune system.

6 Jul 2012