Immune System News and Research

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Columbia University receives CFI grant to investigate causes of chronic fatigue syndrome

The Chronic Fatigue Initiative (CFI) - a new privately funded research directive focused on chronic fatigue syndrome - announced a substantial grant to a Columbia University research team to investigate the role of pathogens in causing chronic fatigue syndrome. The pathogen discovery and pathogenesis program will be led by Drs. Ian Lipkin and Mady Hornig of the Center for Infection and Immunity.

28 Sep 2011

DMARDs appear to be more effective for children with arthritis

Medications known as disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, or DMARDs, appear to be more effective than other treatments for children with arthritis, but there is not enough evidence to support one kind of DMARD over another, according to a new report from HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

28 Sep 2011

Researchers modify HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress immune system

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have modified HIV in a way that makes it no longer able to suppress the immune system. Their work, they say in a report published online September 19 in the journal Blood, could remove a major hurdle in HIV vaccine development and lead to new treatments.

27 Sep 2011

University of Zurich receives AICR grant to improve vaccines against Burkitt's lymphoma

Research in Switzerland could help reduce the time taken to develop vaccines against cancer tumours.

27 Sep 2011

MSU creates new malaria vaccine with immune-stimulating gene

Continuing a global effort to prevent malaria infections, Michigan State University researchers have created a new malaria vaccine - one that combines the use of a disabled cold virus with an immune system-stimulating gene - that appears to increase the immune response against the parasite that causes the deadly disease.

27 Sep 2011

No link between duration or depth of general anesthesia and subsequent cancer risk

Helping to allay fears raised by previous studies, a new report finds no link between the duration or depth of general anesthesia and the subsequent risk of developing cancer, according to the October issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

26 Sep 2011

Listeria contamination in cantaloupes shipped to 10 states

Listeria-contaminated cantaloupes were shipped to five more states than was previously known, bringing to 22 the total number of states affected by an outbreak that killed eight people, the FDA announced last week.

26 Sep 2011

University of Utah develops video game to help children with cancer

Even super heroes need a chance to get better, especially if they've been fighting their arch-nemesis and a robotic crab that just won't go away. At least, that's the premise behind a video game developed at the University of Utah to help children with cancer during their treatment.

26 Sep 2011

CytoDyn files provisional patent application for humanized version of Cytolin to treat HIV

CytoDyn Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of new therapies for combating infection with immune deficiency viruses, HIV/AIDS, announced today that it has filed a provisional patent application in the United States for its humanized version of its lead product Cytolin, a monoclonal antibody for the treatment of HIV infection.

26 Sep 2011

Janssen Biotech receives FDA approval for Remicade to treat UC in children

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Remicade (infliximab) to treat moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) in children older than 6 years who have had inadequate response to conventional therapy.

26 Sep 2011

Synthetic lectins inhibit HIV from entering cells

University of Utah researchers have discovered a new class of compounds that stick to the sugary coating of the AIDS virus and inhibit it from infecting cells - an early step toward a new treatment to prevent sexual transmission of the virus.

23 Sep 2011

Gamma radiation could toughen up plastic prosthetic joints

A blast of gamma radiation could toughen up plastic prosthetic joints to make them strong enough to last for years, according to researchers in China writing in the current issue of the International Journal of Biomedical Engineering and Technology.

23 Sep 2011

Study identifies genetic mutations that affect immune response to measles vaccination

Researchers at Mayo Clinic are hacking the genetic code that controls the human response to disease vaccination, and they are using this new cipher to answer many of the deep-seated questions that plague vaccinology, including why patients respond so differently to identical vaccines and how to minimize the side effects to vaccination.

23 Sep 2011

New insights into nephrotic syndrome and high blood pressure

Scientists have now begun to understand kidney damage on a cellular level and how the activity of certain molecules in damaged kidneys contributes to salt and water retention in nephrotic syndrome.

23 Sep 2011

NIH honors Utah biochemist with Pioneer Award for dsRNA research

University of Utah biochemist Brenda L. Bass, Ph.D., has dedicated her career to following the path less traveled.

23 Sep 2011

New microbicide may block AIDS virus from infecting cells

23 Sep 2011

Adeno-associated virus type 2 kills human breast cancer cells in lab

A nondisease-causing virus kills human breast cancer cells in the laboratory, creating opportunities for potential new cancer therapies, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers who tested the virus on three different breast cancer types that represent the multiple stages of breast cancer development.

23 Sep 2011

Study: Opioid drugs can increase risk of pneumonia in older adults

Opioids -- a class of medicines commonly given for pain -- were associated with a higher risk of pneumonia in a study of 3,061 adults, aged 65 to 94, e-published in advance of publication in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

23 Sep 2011

Researchers discover how a novel type of antibody works against pneumococcal bacteria

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered how a novel type of antibody works against pneumococcal bacteria.

23 Sep 2011

Cornell researchers identify how T. gondii controls host's immune system

Toxoplasma gondii parasites can invade your bloodstream, break into your brain and prompt behavioral changes from recklessness to neuroticism. These highly contagious protozoa infect more than half the world's population, and most people's immune systems never purge the intruders.

22 Sep 2011