Immune System News and Research

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Women experience more severe and frequent domestic violence than men

Domestic violence knows no boundaries: cultural, socio-economic, religious, level of education, gender or age. It can occur in any relationship and to anyone, but especially to women. In fact, roughly 25 percent of women will become a victim at one time or another during her lifetime.

16 Apr 2011

Chronic exposure to polluted air can lead to inflammation

Chronic inhalation of polluted air appears to activate a protein that triggers the release of white blood cells, setting off events that lead to widespread inflammation, according to new research in an animal model.

16 Apr 2011

Genentech receives FDA approval for Actemra to treat juvenile idiopathic arthritis

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Actemra, given alone or in combination with methotrexate, for the treatment of active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis in children ages 2 years and older.

15 Apr 2011

New treatment improves immune function in 13-year-old with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome

In a novel approach that works around the gene defect in Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, an inherited immune deficiency disorder, researchers used an alternative cell signaling pathway to significantly improve immune function in a 13-year-old boy with the disease.

15 Apr 2011

African genital herpes strains are more infectious than the U.S. virus

Strains of genital herpes in Africa are far more virulent than those in the United States, researchers at Harvard Medical School report, a striking insight into a common disease with important implications for preventing HIV transmission in a region staggered by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

15 Apr 2011

AHRQ finds 52% increase in medication side effects, injuries between 2004 and 2008

The number of people treated in U.S. hospitals for illnesses and injuries from taking medicines jumped 52 percent between 2004 and 2008 - from 1.2 million to 1.9 million - according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

15 Apr 2011

Researchers classify chronic ulcerative stomatitis as a new autoimmune disease

In the first study investigating the origins of a little-known condition called chronic ulcerative stomatitis, researchers at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine provide evidence that an autoimmune response contributes to the painful oral sores that characterize the disease. The study findings support the classification of CUS as a new autoimmune disease.

15 Apr 2011

Normal breast cells provide an innate defense mechanism against cancer

It is well known that the human body has a highly developed immune system to detect and destroy invading pathogens and tumor cells. Now, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have shown that the body has a second line of defense against cancer - healthy cells.

15 Apr 2011

Sea squirt study may help solve organ rejection problems in humans

Studies of the small sea squirt may ultimately help solve the problem of rejection of organ and bone marrow transplants in humans, according to scientists at UC Santa Barbara.

15 Apr 2011

Quest PharmaTech, Hemispherx Biopharma enter clinical development arrangement

Quest PharmaTech Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products for the treatment of cancer, today announced a clinical development arrangement with U.S. based Hemispherx Biopharma Inc. to evaluate the clinical utility of combining Quest's antibody immunotherapy technology with Hemispherx's immune activator in a thirty patient clinical trial.

15 Apr 2011

Researchers develop non-steroid based strategy for patients with COPD

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have developed a non-steroid based strategy for improving the lung's innate immune defense and decreasing inflammation that can be a problem for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

15 Apr 2011

Study finds association between C-reactive protein and memory decline

High levels of a protein associated with chronic, low-grade inflammation in the brain correlate with aspects of memory decline in otherwise cognitively normal older adults, according to a study led by scientists at the University of California, San Francisco.

15 Apr 2011

The Wistar Institute, Advaxis enter research collaboration

Advaxis, Inc., the live, attenuated Listeria monocytogenes vaccine company, has entered into a research collaboration with the laboratory of Ellen Puré, Ph.D., professor/associate vice president for Academic Affairs at The Wistar Institute.

15 Apr 2011

New research confirms high-fat diet can contribute to type 2 diabetes

A diet high in saturated fat is a key contributor to type 2 diabetes, a major health threat worldwide. Several decades ago scientists noticed that people with type 2 diabetes have overly active immune responses, leaving their bodies rife with inflammatory chemicals.

12 Apr 2011

Sirolimus may help treat lymphangioleiomyomatosis in women

An Oregon Health & Science University researcher has co-authored an international study that revealed a drug approved to prevent rejection in organ transplant patients helped treat a rare lung disease in women.

12 Apr 2011

Positive results from ULCA's Phase 1 dendritic cell vaccine trial in glioblastoma

A novel brain tumor vaccine clinical trial study demonstrates a longer survival time in patients with glioblastoma, according to findings being presented at the 79th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons in Denver.

12 Apr 2011

Early uMSC transplantation may treat lupus nephritis

Human umbilical cord blood-derived mensenchymal stem cells have been found to offer benefits for treating lupus nephritis when transplanted into mouse models of systemic lupus erythematosus.

12 Apr 2011

Targeted photodynamic therapy eradicates some models of cancer

Targeted photodynamic therapy can completely eradicate some models of cancer, according to the latest research by UK and Swiss scientists, published in the current issue of the British Journal of Cancer.

12 Apr 2011

Study shows neutralizing antibodies to C5a protein may prevent heart failure

New research published online in The FASEB Journal details research in rats and mice that offers hope for stopping the devastating, and often fatal, effects of sepsis in humans. In the study, University of Michigan researchers show how neutralizing the effects of a key protein fragment, called C5a, used by the immune system to attract white blood cells may ultimately prevent heart failure.

12 Apr 2011

Stress wreaks havoc on bacteria in digestive system

Stress not only sends the human immune system into overdrive - it can also wreak havoc on the trillions of bacteria that work and thrive inside our digestive system.

12 Apr 2011