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.

Feline virus, antiviral drug studied to understand drug resistance

Researchers at Ohio State will spend the next two years testing their theories about just how an AIDS-like virus in cats is able to resist the powerful medicines that are thrown against it.

10 Oct 2007

Specific immune deficiency pinpointed as likely cause of ulcerative colitis

In a series of mouse experiments, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) have pinpointed a specific immune deficiency as the likely fundamental cause of ulcerative colitis, a chronic, sometimes severe inflammatory disease of the colon or large intestine that afflicts half a million Americans.

4 Oct 2007

HIV positive employees face job loss and workplace discrimination

HIV positive employees face unemployment and workplace discrimination, indicates a study published ahead of print in Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

3 Oct 2007

DNA damage response confers a barrier for viral tumorigenesis

Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) is a human tumor virus and an etiological agent for Kaposi's sarcoma (KS).

27 Sep 2007

Acute loss of intestinal CD4+ T cells is not predictive of SIV virulence

A sudden loss of T cells -- white blood cells crucial to the immune system -- is not the trigger for the onset of AIDS, according to a study published in the September 2007 issue of the Journal of Immunology by a team of researchers at Tulane National Primate Research Center.

24 Sep 2007

Discovery of cause of Job's syndrome

The rare immunodeficiency disorder known as Job's syndrome is caused by a specific genetic mutation that both overstimulates and understimulates the human immune system, leading to harmful bacterial and fungal infections and the physical features characteristic of the syndrome, according to two independent groups of scientists, one from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the other from the Tokyo Medical and Dental University.

20 Sep 2007

Pregnancy appears to cut risks for HIV-infected women

Women with HIV infection who become pregnant have a lower risk of progression to AIDS and death, researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center report.

13 Sep 2007

HIV patients with declining platelet counts appear to be at increased risk for HIV-associated dementia

Therapies leading to longer life for HIV patients have paradoxically increased the prevalence of this condition. Identifying biological markers for the development of HIV–associated dementia is critical both for diagnosing the disorder and for understanding its underlying mechanisms.

11 Sep 2007

New insights into the complexity of HIV/AIDS

Three related papers published in the Sept. 1 edition of The Journal of Immunology provide key new insights into the complexity of HIV/AIDS. Don Sodora, Ph.D., a principal investigator in SBRI's Viral Vaccines Program who recently joined SBRI from the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, is senior author on one of three papers that collectively show CD4 T-cell depletion, a critical symptom of AIDS, is likely a part of a multifaceted scenario that triggers disease rather than the only cause.

10 Sep 2007

Study identifies osteopontin as a key player in the body's immune response to chronic stress

Osteopontin (OPN), a protein molecule involved in many different cellular processes, plays a significant role in immune deficiency and organ atrophy following chronic physiological stress, resulting in increased susceptibility to illness.

4 Sep 2007

FDA approves Acambis smallpox vaccine

Acambis plc (Acambis) has announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its ACAM2000 (Smallpox (Vaccinia) Vaccine, Live) vaccine for protection against smallpox.

4 Sep 2007

Immune deficiency linked to squamous cell eye cancer

The incidence of squamous cell eye cancer is greater among kidney transplant patients and people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) than the general public, which suggests the disease is associated with immune deficiency.

16 Aug 2007

Researchers genetically modify a plant to halt reproduction of HIV related virus

In a study that could lead to new ways to prevent infection by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and similar organisms, Purdue University researchers have been able to genetically modify a plant to halt reproduction of a related virus.

31 Jul 2007

Tonsil epithelial factors may influence oropharyngeal HIV transmission

Current research demonstrates that the tonsils may possess the necessary factors to act as a transmission site for the spread of HIV.

27 Jul 2007

Koronis Pharmaceuticals issued U.S. patent for KP-1461 therapeutic in development for treatment of HIV

Koronis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has announced the issuance of U.S. Patent No. 7,244,732 that discloses the composition of KP-1461 -- the Company's lead antiviral therapeutic currently in a Phase 2 trial for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

23 Jul 2007

Urgent needs of HIV-positive women discussed

Women Living Positive, a roundtable discussion at the IAS congress in Sydney, featured the perspectives of an international panel, including experts in HIV research and medicine, an HIV-positive woman and a member of Australia's National Association of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NAPWA), on the progress that has been made, and what remains to be done to address the needs of HIV-positive women.

23 Jul 2007

A challenge to the ancient origin of SIVagm based on African Green Monkey mitochondrial genomes

Monkey viruses related to HIV may have swept across Africa more recently than previously thought, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson.

17 Jul 2007

Etravirine reduces HIV viral loads when taken with Prezista

The experimental antiretroviral drug etravirine, made by Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Tibotec Pharmaceuticals, greatly reduces HIV viral loads in people with a history of drug resistance when taken in combination with Tibotec's antiretroviral Prezista, according to two studies published Saturday in the journal The Lancet.

10 Jul 2007

Olive-pomace oil slows down AIDS

Olive oil has become part of the fight against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) - the cause of AIDS - thanks to the research carried out by the Bionat team, from the University of Granada, headed by Prof. Andres Garcia-Granados, senior lecturer in Organic Chemistry.

9 Jul 2007

Cancer risk in HIV, transplant patients

HIV/AIDS and kidney transplant patients are at much greater risk of contracting 20 different types of cancer than the general population, according to a land mark paper in The Lancet.

8 Jul 2007