Interleukin 6 News and Research

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Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the "IL6" gene. IL-6 is an interleukin that acts as both a pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine. It is secreted by T cells and macrophages to stimulate immune response to trauma, especially burns or other tissue damage leading to inflammation.

Research on immune system may help in healing chronic inflammatory diseases

Biochemists at Kiel University, along with international scientists, have identified an important messenger in the immune system. The messenger interleukin-27 plays an important role when the human body blocks inflammations.

9 Nov 2010

Alder to present data of ALD518 two clinical studies for rheumatoid arthritis at American College Meeting

Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc. today announced that data from two clinical studies of its ALD518 investigational antibody therapeutic will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the American College of Rheumatology in Atlanta.

8 Nov 2010

ACTEMRA reduces signs, symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Genentech, Inc., a member of the Roche Group today announced updated data from a Phase III study (ROSE) that showed rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients receiving ACTEMRA (tocilizumab) experienced a rapid, measured response as early as one week after beginning ACTEMRA, and improvement in disease activity within four weeks.

8 Nov 2010

4SC's vidofludimus Phase IIa study in IBD meets primary endpoint

4SC AG, a drug discovery and development company focused on autoimmune and cancer indications, today announced positive preliminary results of a Phase IIa study in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with its lead autoimmune compound vidofludimus, an oral inhibitor of interleukin-17 (IL-17) release.

4 Nov 2010

Arthritis drugs also prevent post-operative cognitive decline: Study

Anti-inflammatory drugs currently used to treat diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis may also help prevent cognitive problems after surgery, according to a new study by researchers at Imperial College London and University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

2 Nov 2010

EpiCept, FDA reach agreement on regulatory path forward for Ceplene

EpiCept Corporation today announced that it has reached an agreement on all outstanding issues with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a regulatory path forward for Ceplene® (histamine dihydrochloride), the Company's lead product for the remission maintenance and prevention of relapse of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in first complete remission. Ceplene® is approved in the European Union for this indication and is marketed there by Meda AB.

28 Oct 2010

Protein IL-37 could help treat inflammatory diseases in adults and children

A husband and wife research team from Melbourne, Australia, have identified a protein that may be a key therapy for many inflammatory diseases, including those affecting premature babies.

21 Oct 2010

Researchers develop new lab test for diagnosing preeclampsia

In as many as 8 percent of pregnancies worldwide, women who seem fine for months develop preeclampsia, a serious complication causing symptoms including high blood pressure, severe swelling, and problems with placental development. The untreatable and unpredictable condition, with no known cause, often requires premature delivery, and can sometimes kill the mother and the fetus.

15 Oct 2010

Study demonstrates chitosan/IL-12 is an effective anti-tumor immunotherapy

A new study by a University of Arkansas biomedical engineer and his colleagues at the National Cancer Institute demonstrates further promise for chitosan/interleukin-12 as an effective anti-tumor immunotherapy.

13 Oct 2010

Scientists design synthetic molecule to protect liver cancer cells from toxic effects of chemotherapy

Scientists have found that a synthetic molecule they designed can block activation of a gene in liver cancer cells, halting a process that allows some of those cancer cells to survive chemotherapy.

13 Oct 2010

Researchers investigate mechanism of immune system to decipher gut-dwelling worms

A billion people living in underdeveloped areas around the world are infected with parasitic helminthes, worms that survive by residing in and feeding on their hosts. These infestations can cause chronic intestinal (and occasionally systemic) illnesses leading to long-term disability. Irah King and Markus Mohrs, biomedical researchers at the Trudeau Institute, are investigating illnesses caused by these gut-dwelling worms in an effort to decipher how immune cells send and receive signals that determine the specific immune response to mount.

12 Oct 2010

BiondVax commences Multimeric-001 flu vaccine Phase IIa clinical study

BiondVax Pharmaceuticals Ltd., an Israeli biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of global efforts towards the development of a Universal Influenza Vaccine, today announced that it has begun to immunize subjects in a Phase IIa clinical trial of the Multimeric-001 Universal Flu Vaccine candidate. The study will evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the Multimeric-001 vaccine.

11 Oct 2010

Childhood abuse may lead to physiological consequences later in life

Seemingly healthy adults, if they were abused or neglected during childhood, may suffer physiological consequences decades later. In research published online last week by the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, a team led by psychiatrists at Brown University and Butler Hospital found that healthy adults who reported being mistreated as kids appear to have an elevated inflammatory response to stress compared to adults who had happier childhoods.

8 Oct 2010

Scientists find new replicating mechanism of Salmonella bacteria

New findings by National Institutes of Health scientists could explain how Salmonella bacteria, a common cause of food poisoning, efficiently spread in people. In a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers describe finding a reservoir of rapidly replicating Salmonella inside epithelial cells. These bacteria are primed to infect other cells and are pushed from the epithelial layer by a new mechanism that frees the Salmonella to infect other cells or be shed into the intestine.

3 Oct 2010

Study shows immunotherapy improves survival rate in children with neuroblastoma

Using immunotherapy biologic agents that stimulate the body's immune system pediatric oncologists have achieved the first substantial increase in over a decade in cure rates for the childhood cancer neuroblastoma. A newly released study shows that the new treatment improved two-year survival rates by 20 percent, compared to standard treatment for an aggressive form of neuroblastoma, a cancer of the nervous system.

30 Sep 2010

XOMA completes patient enrollment in XOMA 052 Phase 2a trial

XOMA Ltd., a leader in the discovery and development of therapeutic antibodies, announced that patient enrollment was recently completed for the company's Phase 2a trial of XOMA 052 in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

29 Sep 2010

ZymoGenetics announces positive survival data from IL-21 Phase 2a clinical trial

ZymoGenetics, Inc. today announced positive survival data from a Phase 2a clinical trial in metastatic melanoma with recombinant Interleukin 21 (IL-21) as a single agent. Median overall survival was 12.4 months, and the percentage of patients surviving at 12 months was 53%.

29 Sep 2010

Clinical study results for patient-specific vaccine therapy to treat metastatic melanoma announced

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian recently announced encouraging clinical study results for patient-specific vaccine therapy to treat metastatic melanoma. The study is ongoing, but the report concludes that patient-specific vaccines can sometimes induce durable complete regression of progressing soft-tissue melanoma metastases, as demonstrated in one particular patient who participated in the trial.

28 Sep 2010

Interleukin Genetics announces clinical study data on osteoarthritis progression

Interleukin Genetics, Inc. and the Thurston Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced today findings from a large clinical study to evaluate the role of genetic factors in osteoarthritis progression which showed patients with radiographic evidence of knee osteoarthritis who inherited a specific pattern of genetic variations in the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) gene were almost twice as likely to progress to severe disease as other patients.

23 Sep 2010

Chromium picolinate may cure inflammation associated with diabetic nephropathy: Research

Taking chromium picolinate may help lessen inflammation associated with diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease), say researchers at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

23 Sep 2010