Autoimmunity 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.

World's first microRNA knockout mouse

A role for a microRNA in the immune system has been shown by study of one of the world's first microRNA knockout mouse, reported in Science.

27 Apr 2007

Green tea may help protect against Sjogren's syndrome

They found significantly less salivary gland damage in a group treated with green tea extract, suggesting a reduction of the Sjogren's symptom commonly referred to as dry mouth. Dry mouth can also be caused by certain drugs, radiation and other diseases.

20 Apr 2007

Link between immune system and high plasma lipid levels

Researchers at the University of Chicago have found an unsuspected link between the immune system and high plasma lipid levels (cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood) in mice.

15 Apr 2007

Vitiligo gene linked to other autoimmune diseases

In a study appearing in the March 22 New England Journal of Medicine, scientists supported by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) have discovered a connection between a specific gene and the inflammatory skin condition vitiligo, as well as a possible host of autoimmune diseases.

11 Apr 2007

Researchers show blood-brain barrier damage could affect multiple sclerosis severity

Immunology researchers at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson studying a multiple sclerosis (MS)-like disease in mice have shown that the amount of "damage" to the central nervous system's protective blood-brain barrier, in essence, opening it, almost always correlates to the severity of the disease.

7 Apr 2007

Connection found between allergic diseases and autoimmune diseases

A new study by researchers at Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center and the University of Washington (UW) identifies a connection between allergic diseases such as atopic dermatitis, also known as eczema, and autoimmune diseases. The study was published in the April 1, 2007 edition of Nature Immunology.

4 Apr 2007

Research helps explain origin of self-reactive B cells

Doctors have long wondered why, in some people, the immune system turns against parts of the body it is designed to protect, leading to autoimmune disease.

7 Feb 2007

Researchers identify genetic risk for type 1 diabetes

A discovery at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes has identified a genetic risk for type 1 diabetes three to four times higher than previously thought possible.

4 Sep 2006

Dog DNA provides clues to combating diseases such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis in humans

Melbourne researchers are examining the DNA of dogs in a research project aiming at determining the genetic causes of common pet diseases - and to provide a model for combating diseases such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis in humans.

5 Jul 2006

Circulating bone-marrow derived cells do not contribute to egg formation

Ovulated egg cells, or oocytes, in adult female mice are not formed from germ cells in the blood or bone marrow.

14 Jun 2006

Epstein-Barr virus infection linked to multiple sclerosis

Young adults with high levels of antibodies against the Epstein-Barr virus, the virus that most often causes mononucleosis, may be more likely to develop multiple sclerosis 15 to 20 years later, according to a study in the Archives of Neurology.

11 Apr 2006

Study provides a boost for efforts to reverse type-1 diabetes

Researchers have been able to confirm most but not all of the results of a high-profile study that brought new hope to diabetes patients. This study provides a boost for efforts to reverse type-1 diabetes in recently diagnosed patients but not for efforts to grow new islets from spleens.

27 Mar 2006

Atorvastatin could prove an effective therapy for multiple sclerosis

Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco and Stanford University Medical Center are reporting compelling new evidence that the cholesterol-lowering drug atorvastatin could prove an effective therapy for preventing the progression of, and reversing the severity of, multiple sclerosis (MS).

20 Mar 2006

Defective apoptosis of dendritic cells can be a critical component of autoimmune diseases

The failure of programming that sparks the death of dendritic cells - those that activate the immune system - can initiate autoimmune disease, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in the current issue of the journal Science.

1 Mar 2006

Discovery of mechanisms responsible for the difference in immune response between male and female mice

The differences in the male and female immune responses, which make females more prone to autoimmune disease and males more subject to infections, are established during puberty.

23 Feb 2006

Causes of type 1 diabetes

Scientists are casting a wide, tightly woven net with the goal of catching the causes of type 1 diabetes.

16 Feb 2006

Generation of neoantigenic epitopes after posttranslational modification of Type II collagen by factors present within the inflamed joint

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by chronic inflammation of the joints, which gradually erodes the cartilage and bone.

7 Dec 2005

New study sheds light on role of type II collagen in rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease which gradually erodes cartilage and bone and is characterised by chronic inflammation of the joints.

6 Dec 2005

Tiny worms provide clues to new treatments for diabetes, asthma and hay fever

University of Edinburgh scientists, who have discovered that helminth parasites can exploit an 'Achilles heel' in our immune system, now hope to mimic the worms' survival tactics in a bid to beat infection.

7 Nov 2005

Researchers shed light on a key molecular switch in T helper cells

Defects in immune system cells called T helper cells may lead to diseases characterized by a faulty inflammatory response such as autoimmunity and asthma. Understanding the molecular steps involved in how T helper cells mature may help researchers develop treatments for these diseases.

17 Oct 2005