Immune System News and Research

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Cigarette smoke exposure results in allograft rejection

A new study published in the American Journal of Transplantation reveals that cigarette smoke exposure, in a cause-effect manner, results in graft rejection that would have been prevented by certain drug treatments.

24 Feb 2012

Scientists identify promising strategy for HIV vaccine design

HIV has eluded vaccine-makers for thirty years, in part due to the virus' extreme ability to mutate. Physical scientists and clinical virologists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Ragon Institute in Cambridge, Mass., have identified a promising strategy for vaccine design using a mathematical technique that has also been used in problems related to quantum physics, as well as in analyses of stock market price fluctuations and studies of enzyme sequences.

24 Feb 2012

Scientists identify specific mechanisms by which vitamin D inhibits inflammation

Researchers at National Jewish Health have discovered specific molecular and signaling events by which vitamin D inhibits inflammation. In their experiments, they showed that low levels of Vitamin D, comparable to levels found in millions of people, failed to inhibit the inflammatory cascade, while levels considered adequate did inhibit inflammatory signaling.

24 Feb 2012

NHS approves new rheumatoid arthritis drug RoActemra

RoActemra, which is the first innovation in the field for ten years, is being recommended for patients who have failed on standard treatments. It is the first time RoActemra has been approved for NHS patients in England and Wales with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis who are at an early stage in the disease. The drug has been available for early use in Scotland for two years.

23 Feb 2012

Pfizer responds to CDC’S ACIP discussion related to use of Prevnar 13 in adults over 50

Pfizer Inc. issued the following statement in response to today's discussion by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) regarding the use of Prevnar 13 (Pneumococcal 13-valent Conjugate Vaccine)in adults 50 years of age and older.

23 Feb 2012

Unknown facets of biological mechanism that immune cells use for creating free radicals

Sometimes our immune defence attacks our own cells. When this happens in the brain we see neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. But if the the immune defence is inhibited, the results could be disastrous.

23 Feb 2012

Elevated levels of two TLRs can trigger heart disease and diabetes

UC Davis scientists have uncovered a key suspect in the destructive inflammation that underlies heart disease and diabetes. The new research shows elevated levels of a receptor present on leucocytes of the innate immune response in people at risk for these chronic diseases.

23 Feb 2012

Micronutrients affect methylation, linked to changes in the immune system

The offspring of women who were given micronutrient supplements (minerals needed in small quantities, such as iron, iodine and vitamin A) before they became pregnant had gene modifications at birth as well as when they were tested at 9 months.

23 Feb 2012

NK cells play an important role in rejection of porcine chondrocytes transplantation

Researchers from the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) have studied for the first time the response of human NK cells (Natural Killer) against porcine chondrocytes (cartilage cells).

23 Feb 2012

Candida albicans can sense immune status of host cells and evade them

Glen Palmer, PhD, Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Immunology & Parasitology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, was part of an international research team led by Luigina Romani, MD, at the University of Perugia, that discovered opportunistic fungi like Candida albicans can sense the immune status of host cells and adapt, evading immune system defenses.

23 Feb 2012

IDRI launches LEISH-F3 + GLA-SE Phase 1 trial for kala-azar

The first clinical trial of a new vaccine for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) has been launched by the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), a Seattle-based nonprofit that develops products to prevent, detect, and treat diseases of poverty. The Phase 1 trial is taking place in Washington State, with a companion Phase 1 trial planned in India, an epicenter of the disease.

23 Feb 2012

Questcor fourth quarter net sales increase to $75.5 million

Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2011.

22 Feb 2012

IRIN examines whether poverty reduction schemes can help lower TB rate in developing countries

IRIN examines "whether a new generation of social protection schemes, aimed at reducing poverty and often using cash transfers to the poorest, can be harnessed to bring down the rate of tuberculosis (TB) in developing countries."

22 Feb 2012

AAN, National MS Society to honor Cleveland Clinic researcher with John Dystel Prize

The American Academy of Neurology and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society are awarding the 2012 John Dystel Prize for MS Research to Richard M. Ransohoff, MD, with the Cleveland Clinic. Ransohoff, a member of the American Academy of Neurology and Associate Editor of Neurology, the Academy's medical journal, will receive the award at the Academy's 64th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, April 21-28, 2012.

22 Feb 2012

BioLineRx BL-7010 may reduce gluten toxicity in patients with celiac disease

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical development company, announced the publication of pre-clinical results demonstrating that BL-7010, an orally available treatment for celiac disease, reduces gluten toxicity (the negative effect of gluten on the patient's body).

22 Feb 2012

Mitochondria may be promising new target for cancer treatment

Mitochondria, tiny structures within each cell that regulate metabolism and energy use, may be a promising new target for cancer therapy, according to a new study. Manipulation of two biochemical signals that regulate the numbers of mitochondria in cells could shrink human lung cancers transplanted into mice, a team of Chicago researchers report in the journal FASEB.

22 Feb 2012

Researchers study specially bred mice to understand annual flu epidemics

As part of a national collaboration, Oregon Health & Science University researchers are studying specially bred mice that are more like humans than ever before when it comes to genetic variation. Through these mice, the researchers hope to better understand and treat an infectious disease that plagues us year in and year out: the flu.

22 Feb 2012

DRG cells may hold potential for nerve transplants

The carnage evident in disasters like car wrecks or wartime battles is oftentimes mirrored within the bodies of the people involved. A severe wound can leave blood vessels and nerves severed, bones broken, and cellular wreckage strewn throughout the body - a debris field within the body itself.

22 Feb 2012

Cedars-Sinai scientist to study potential treatments for AD

A Cedars-Sinai research scientist has been awarded two national grants totaling more than $2.5 million, including a prestigious Research Project Grant from the National Institutes of Health to study potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease.

21 Feb 2012

University of Pennsylvania, IMUC enter license agreement for dendritic-cell production method

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics today announced that it has entered into an agreement with the University of Pennsylvania under which University of Pennsylvania has granted the Company an exclusive, worldwide license for a patent pending technology for the production of high-activity dendritic cells.

21 Feb 2012

Immune System News and Research

Cigarette smoke exposure results in allograft rejection

Scientists identify promising strategy for HIV vaccine design

Scientists identify specific mechanisms by which vitamin D inhibits inflammation

NHS approves new rheumatoid arthritis drug RoActemra

Pfizer responds to CDC’S ACIP discussion related to use of Prevnar 13 in adults over 50

Unknown facets of biological mechanism that immune cells use for creating free radicals

Elevated levels of two TLRs can trigger heart disease and diabetes

Micronutrients affect methylation, linked to changes in the immune system

NK cells play an important role in rejection of porcine chondrocytes transplantation

Candida albicans can sense immune status of host cells and evade them

IDRI launches LEISH-F3 + GLA-SE Phase 1 trial for kala-azar

Questcor fourth quarter net sales increase to $75.5 million

IRIN examines whether poverty reduction schemes can help lower TB rate in developing countries

AAN, National MS Society to honor Cleveland Clinic researcher with John Dystel Prize

BioLineRx BL-7010 may reduce gluten toxicity in patients with celiac disease

Mitochondria may be promising new target for cancer treatment

Researchers study specially bred mice to understand annual flu epidemics

DRG cells may hold potential for nerve transplants

Cedars-Sinai scientist to study potential treatments for AD

University of Pennsylvania, IMUC enter license agreement for dendritic-cell production method

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