Autoimmune Disease News and Research

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Autoimmune Disease is a condition in which the body recognizes its own tissues as foreign and directs an immune response against them.

Multisequential MRI approach improves heart inflammation diagnosis

A multisequential approach to cardiovascular magnetic resonance scans that highlight different aspects of heart structure and function may offer a better and safer way to identify potentially deadly inflammation of the heart muscle, according to a new study (PDF) in the June 7, 2005, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

9 Jun 2005

MabThera highly effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis

Results from the DANCER study presented today revealed that MabThera significantly improves symptoms in heavily treated patients who are affected by moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a painful and debilitating disease of the joints.

9 Jun 2005

Scientists shed new light on how protein Ro creates RNA quality control system for cells

A report by Yale scientists in the journal Cell sheds new light on how the protein Ro, a major autoantigen in patients with autoimmune disease, recognizes misfolded RNAs, creating a RNA quality control system for cells.

1 Jun 2005

Newly discovered gene could provide targets for diabetes therapies

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) has announced that JDRF-funded researchers in Australia and the United Kingdom have identified a gene called Roquin that regulates the immune system and keeps harmful T cells in check.

1 Jun 2005

La Jolla Pharmaceutical provides update on Riquent

La Jolla Pharmaceutical Company today announced that it has received "fast track" designation for Riquent (abetimus sodium) for the treatment of lupus renal disease from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

31 May 2005

New gene shows way for autoimmune disease

A new gene suspected to contribute to autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes and lupus - a condition in which the body’s own immune system attacks organs such as the kidneys and skin - has been discovered by Australian National University (ANU) immunologists.

30 May 2005

Researchers show protein's role in stopping bacterial-induced inflammation

In findings that could have implications for autoimmune disorders and drug-resistant bacterial infections, researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine have identified a key protein involved in the appropriate shut-down of inflammation following an immune response to invading pathogens.

28 Apr 2005

Promising new West Nile therapy cures disease in mice

West Nile virus alarmed Americans when it made its first U.S. appearance in New York City in 1999. It has since spread from coast to coast, sickened more than 16,000 Americans and killed more than 600.

27 Apr 2005

How Ebola virus infects cells - discovery

Ebola virus reproduction in laboratory-grown cells is severely hampered by enzyme-inhibiting chemicals, and these chemicals deserve further study as possible treatments for Ebola virus infections in humans, report scientists supported in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

23 Apr 2005

Japanese researchers reverse diabetes

Japanese researchers have successfully reversed a woman’s diabetes by transplanting insulinmaking cells (islets) from a living donor’s pancreas into her, reporting their results in a research letter published online today by The Lancet. This is the first successful operation of its kind using the islets from a living donor.

19 Apr 2005

Stress can give the immune system a beneficial boost

New research in mice provides more evidence that a brief bout of stress can give the immune system a beneficial boost – under certain conditions.

19 Apr 2005

Epstein-Barr virus may increase risk of lupus

Almost everyone has been infected with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), a member of the herpes family and one of the most common human viruses.

7 Apr 2005

Vaccine prevents deadly pneumonia in African children

Global health leaders today presented new research showing that vaccinating infants against Streptococcus pneumoniae -- a bacterium that causes deadly pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis -- could substantially reduce death and serious illness among children in the developing world. If used widely, a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine could prevent hundreds of thousands of child deaths each year.

28 Mar 2005

Vital molecular step in cell migration

A vital molecular step in cell migration, the movement of cells within the body during growth, tissue repair and the body's immune response to invading pathogens, has been demonstrated by researchers in the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

28 Mar 2005

New therapy for treating cat allergies looks promising

Andrew Saxon, M.D., and a team of researchers at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have found that a molecule designed to block cat allergies can prevent allergic reactions in laboratory mice and was also successful when tested on human cells in a test tube.

28 Mar 2005

ViaCell and Genzyme announce collaboration - ViaCell announces patent issuance

ViaCell and Genzyme Corporation announced today that the two companies entered into a collaboration related to diabetes.

15 Mar 2005

Tumor-targeted immune cells cure prostate cancer without causing systemic immune suppression

In a major breakthrough in cancer gene therapy, a Northwestern University researcher has endowed immune cells with the ability to specifically target metastatic prostate cancer in mice without causing the toxic immune suppression that has been associated with earlier forms of cancer gene therapy.

14 Mar 2005

Up to 500,000 Americans will develop lupus-related kidney disease

According to the Lupus Foundation of America, an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 Americans with the autoimmune disease lupus eventually will develop lupus-related kidney disease, known as lupus nephritis. Lupus nephritis is one of the most serious manifestations of lupus and can lead to serious health problems, kidney failure, disability or death.

27 Feb 2005

Discovery could lead to the prevention, and possibly treatment of autoimmune diseases such as Type 1 diabetes

Scientists at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore have identified a way to prevent Type I diabetes in rats that are genetically prone to develop the disease.

23 Feb 2005

Programmed cell death may provide clues to cancer and autoimmune diseases therapies

Dartmouth Medical School geneticists have found links in the cell death machinery of worms and mammals, opening new avenues for studying and targeting a process vital to development and implicated in cancer and autoimmune diseases.

16 Feb 2005