Immune System News and Research

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Researchers discover unknown mechanism that promotes growth and spread of cancer

Tiny vesicles released by tumors cells are taken up by healthy immune cells, causing the immune cells to discharge chemicals that foster cancer-cell growth and spread, according to a study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James) and at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles.

11 Jul 2012

DRCRF names 21 new Damon Runyon Fellows

The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, a non-profit organization focused on supporting innovative early career researchers, named 21 new Damon Runyon Fellows at its spring Fellowship Award Committee review.

11 Jul 2012

SRI International receives DoD grant to develop novel therapy for MS

The Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded SRI International a one-year grant to develop a novel therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune nervous system disease that affects about 400,000 people in the United States and more than two million people worldwide. There is currently no cure for this disorder, which can impair vision and movement.

11 Jul 2012

Liver failure, cancer and mortality in cirrhotic patients coinfected with HIV/AIDS and HCV predicted by liver stiffness

Researchers from Spain established that liver stiffness, measured by transient elastography (TE), is an independent predictor of liver failure, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and mortality in cirrhotic patients coinfected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and hepatitis C virus (HCV).

10 Jul 2012

Sleep loss mirrors stress affects on immune system

Acute sleep loss affects the immune system in a similar way to stress, researchers report.

10 Jul 2012

Herpes zoster vaccine recommendations questioned in patients on biologics

Administration of the live attenuated herpes zoster vaccine is not associated with an increased risk for shingles shortly after vaccination in patients receiving biologic treatments for immune-mediated diseases, researchers report in JAMA.

10 Jul 2012

Altered immune function in relatives of schizophrenia patients

Schizophrenia patients and their unaffected first-degree relatives exhibit immune system alterations compared with mentally healthy individuals, researchers report.

10 Jul 2012

One-quarter of ITP patients achieve 5-year treatment-free response

Approximately 25% of patients with immune thrombocytopenia purpura who receive treatment with rituximab maintain a treatment-free response lasting for at least 5 years, study findings suggest.

10 Jul 2012

TNF-α levels linked to lithium response in BD patients

Patients with bipolar disorder who have a poor response to lithium treatment have significantly higher serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α than those with a good response, researchers report.

10 Jul 2012

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