Interleukin 3 News and Research

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Personalized therapy for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease could soon be here

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have defined a new type of immune response that is activated in patients with severe asthma and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Their discovery could dramatically improve diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic inflammatory lung disease.

19 May 2008

Skin flaps deliver cancer-fighting therapy

Using gene therapy, plastic surgeons have delivered cancer fighting proteins through skin flaps placed on cancerous tumors on rats with a 79 percent reduction in tumor volume, according to a study in the May issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).

8 May 2008

Role of genetic components of dendritic cells could lead to more effective drugs

For the first time, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine have identified genetic components of dendritic cells that are key to asthma and allergy-related immune response malfunction. Targeting these elements could result in more effective drugs to treat allergic disorders and asthma, according to a study reported in the May edition of the journal Nature Medicine.

7 May 2008

Stanford researchers synthesize new agents to flush HIV out of hiding

Any hunter will tell you that when your quarry goes into hiding, you have to flush it out to get a good shot at it. Such is the case with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

1 May 2008

Obesity and heart failure risk

Heart specialists at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere report what is believed to be the first wide-scale evidence linking severe overweight to prolonged inflammation of heart tissue and the subsequent damage leading to failure of the body's blood-pumping organ.

1 May 2008

Human protein may offer novel target for blocking HIV infection

A research group supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has uncovered a new route for attacking the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that may offer a way to circumvent problems with drug resistance. In findings published today in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the researchers report that they have blocked HIV infection in the test tube by inactivating a human protein expressed in key immune cells.

29 Apr 2008

New route discovered for attacking the human immunodeficiency virus

28 Apr 2008

Metabolic genes tied to inflammatory predictor of heart disease and stroke risk

Two new studies provide evidence that differences in people's blood levels of C reactive protein (CRP) stem in part from natural variation in known metabolic genes. The researchers report their findings in the May American Journal of Human Genetics, a publication of Cell Press.

24 Apr 2008

Study details cost-effectiveness of rheumatoid arthritis treatments for Medicare recipients

For elderly and disabled rheumatoid arthritis (RA) sufferers, the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) brought the promise of better disease management with "biologic" drugs.

15 Apr 2008

DASH diet also may cut risk for heart disease, stroke

Women who eat diets similar to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet -which is low in animal protein, moderate in low-fat dairy products and high in plant proteins, fruits and vegetables - appear to have a lower risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, according to a report in the April 14 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

15 Apr 2008

Researchers study Rituximab's action on cancer stem cells

Preliminary data from one of the first clinical trials to test a stem cell-targeting drug in cancer patients shows that while the drug did not prolong survival, its suppressing effect on patients' stem cells was impressive enough to send investigators looking for a better drug to try.

13 Apr 2008

Long-term interleukin-6 levels and subsequent risk of coronary heart disease

In research published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine this week, John Danesh of the University of Cambridge and colleagues find that interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels (a type of protein produced by inflammation, attracting cells of the immune system to the site of injury) are associated with coronary heart disease.

8 Apr 2008

Tart cherries cut heart/diabetes risk factors

Tart cherries - frequently sold dried, frozen or in juice - may have more than just good taste and bright red color going for them, according to new animal research from the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center.

7 Apr 2008

New clues to risk of Hodgkin lymphoma discovered

A long-term study of twins has led University of Southern California (USC) researchers to find potential links between Hodgkin lymphoma and levels of an immune response protein (interleukin-12).

2 Apr 2008

Tai Chi improves control of type 2 diabetes

Tai Chi exercises can improve the control of type 2 diabetes, suggests a small study, published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

1 Apr 2008

EpiCept announces opinion by European Regulatory Authority on Ceplene

EpiCept Corporation has announced that the European Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), the scientific committee of the European Medicines Agency (EMEA), has issued, as expected following the trend vote announced last month, a negative opinion regarding the marketing authorization application (MAA) for Ceplene (histamine dihydrochloride) for the remission maintenance and prevention of relapse of patients with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) in first remission.

24 Mar 2008