Immune System News and Research

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Researchers highlight importance of motivating people to seek HIV testing

HIV infected patients whose treatment is delayed not only become sicker than those treated earlier, but also require tens of thousands of dollars more in care over the first several years of their treatment.

23 Nov 2010

New method to generate custom-made platelets from skin cells

Skin cells from humans can be revamped into pro-clotting cells called platelets, according to a study published on November 22 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine.

23 Nov 2010

Health workforce faces challenges with economic downturn, effort to improve quality of care

The Los Angeles Times: Although healthcare has been one of the most reliable "generators of new jobs in California," the situation is changing. A "lousy economy has caught up with an industry once considered virtually immune to downturns. The sector, which employs about 1 in 10 Californians, has stalled at a time when healthcare employment continues to grow nationally.

23 Nov 2010

Compugen announces development of Protein Family Members Discovery Platform

Compugen Ltd. announced today the development of its Protein Family Members Discovery Platform, designed for the discovery of novel protein members belonging to various known and clinically important protein families.

23 Nov 2010

Sugar in breast milk promotes colitis in newborn: Study

A sugar found in mouse breast milk promotes the generation of colitis in offspring, according to a study published online on November 22 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine

23 Nov 2010

Grifols launches Flebogamma 10% DIF intravenous immune globulin in the U.S.

Grifols today announced availability of its recently approved Flebogamma® 10% DIF intravenous immune globulin. Grifols is a global healthcare company specializing in bioscience medicines derived from human plasma. Approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Flebogamma® 10% DIF was obtained in July 2010 and final approval in Europe is expected before the end of the year. Today's announcement signals widespread product availability to the US market.

22 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 22, 2010

Today's headlines offer a range of health policy stories, including more reports on deficit reduction issues, the continuing politics swirling around the health law repeal effort and employers' soaring health care costs.

22 Nov 2010

Variation at gene locus associated with greater reproductive success

Since 1871, when Charles Darwin wrote The Descent of Man, it has been widely accepted that "Variability is the necessary basis for the action of selection." Variability is associated with the ability to adapt, which is clearly beneficial at a species level. But there is increasing evidence that genetic variability may also give rise to advantages at the level of the individual.

22 Nov 2010

ImmunGene awarded $244,479 therapeutic discovery project grant under PPACA 2010

ImmunGene, Inc., a privately held drug development company focused on targeted antibody therapeutics with numerous anti-cancer functions built into a single therapy, announced today that it has received a $244,479 grant under The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA). The grant was related to the development of ImmunGene's technology which is based on antibody-cytokine fusions that have demonstrated targeted toxicity and added tumor benefits.

22 Nov 2010

Researchers develop three-dimensional cancer cell from normal human tissue in culture dish

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have successfully transformed normal human tissue into three-dimensional cancers in a tissue culture dish for the first time. Watching how the cells behave as they divide and invade surrounding tissue will help physicians better understand how human cancers act in the body. The new technique also provides a way to quickly and cheaply test anti-cancer drugs without requiring laboratory animals.

22 Nov 2010

National Marrow Donor Program adopts IBM's WebSphere Lombardi Business Process Management software

IBM announced today that the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP) has adopted IBM's WebSphere Lombardi Business Process Management (BPM) software to help automate its donor and patient management process. Both processes are critical to facilitate the matching of donors to patients needing cellular transplants.

20 Nov 2010

Russian-trained microbiologist recommends tips for consumers to achieve effective results from probiotics

With the European Union poised to regulate probiotics, and with probiotic supplement sales increasing dramatically in the United States, Americans need to know what they're buying, and how these products can affect their health.

20 Nov 2010

Harvard researcher to receive 2010 Naomi Berrie Award from Columbia University Medical Center

Columbia University Medical Center will present the 2010 Naomi Berrie Award to a Harvard researcher who has made important advances in understanding the molecular basis for links between obesity, diabetes and heart disease. A promising young investigator at Columbia will also be recognized for her novel investigations regarding the basis for disordered lipid metabolism in diabetes.

20 Nov 2010

Genetic differences impact winter vitamin D status

Vitamin D is somewhat of an unusual "vitamin," because it can be made in the body from sunlight and most foods do not contain vitamin D unless added by fortification. Synthesis of vitamin D in the body requires exposure to ultraviolet light and can be influenced by genetics, skin color, and sun exposure.

20 Nov 2010

Study sheds light on poorly understood aspect of interaction of HIV with natural killer cells

Natural killer cells are major weapons in the body's immune system. They keep the body healthy by knocking off tumors and cells infected with viruses, bombarding them with tiny lethal pellets. But natural killer cells are powerless against HIV, a fact that has bedeviled science for over 20 years.

20 Nov 2010

Study refocuses on rare group of neutralizing antibodies against HIV

Although people infected with HIV produce many antibodies against the protein encapsulating the virus, most of these antibodies are strangely ineffective at fighting the disease. A new study suggests why some of the most common of these antibodies don't work: they target the protein in a form it takes after the virus has already invaded the cell, when it's too late, report researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and their colleagues.

20 Nov 2010

Abnormal levels of circulating auto-antibodies found in blood of COPD patients

Moderate to severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may be an auto-immunity problem, according to researchers in Spain, who studied the presence of auto-antibodies in patients with COPD and compared them to levels of control subjects. They found that a significant number of patients with COPD had significant levels of auto-antibodies circulating in their blood, about 5 to 10 times the level in controls.

20 Nov 2010

High CRP and low protein albumin levels associated with increased risk of death after PEG-operations

The combination of high CRP and low levels of the protein albumin in the blood, is associated with an increased risk of death after a PEG-operation; implantation of a nutritional catheter into the stomach through the abdominal wall. This was shown in a new study from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet, published in the scientific journal Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Of the PEG patients in the study that showed both current indicators, 20 percent died within 30 days.

20 Nov 2010

Discovery could provide new approaches to treat metabolic disorders

Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have identified a novel synthetic activator of a pair of proteins that belong to a protein family playing key roles in human metabolism and immune function. The discovery could provide new and potentially more effective therapeutic approaches to diseases ranging from diabetes to osteoporosis.

20 Nov 2010

Research suggests new therapeutic approach to prevent transplant rejection

UCLA researchers have pinpointed the culprit behind chronic rejection of heart, lung and kidney transplants. Published in the Nov. 23 edition of Science Signaling, their findings suggest new therapeutic approaches for preventing transplant rejection and sabotaging cancer growth.

19 Nov 2010