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.

Three-drug cocktail improves outcomes in glioblastoma multiforme

New research at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center suggests that a three-drug cocktail may one day improve outcomes in patients with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a type of brain tumor with a dismal prognosis.

2 Jan 2008

Two genes are important key to regulating immune response

A research team at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City has identified two genes that may be crucial to the production of an immune system cytokine called interleukin-10 (IL-10)

2 Jan 2008

Researchers uncover delicate protein balance behind the immune system response

A team of researchers from the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine has identified the protein interactions involved in the immune system process that fights infection yet, in certain inflammatory diseases, runs amok and attacks friendly tissue.

10 Dec 2007

Discovery of new signaling molecule could lead to the development of new treatments for cancer

Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered a new signaling molecule that prevents immune responses from running amok and damaging the body.

21 Nov 2007

Monkeys fend off AIDS-like symptoms with enhanced HIV vaccine

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that using an immune system gene to enhance a vaccine used to study HIV in macaque monkeys provides the animals with greater protection against simian HIV (SHIV) than an unmodified vaccine.

21 Nov 2007

Earlier bites by uninfected mosquitoes boost West Nile deaths in lab mice

There's one more reason to try to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes, scientists have discovered: bites from mosquitoes that aren't infected by the West Nile virus may make the disease worse in people who acquire it later from West Nile-infected mosquitoes.

16 Nov 2007

Immune cell age plays role in retinal damage in age-related macular degeneration

Studying a mouse model of age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in older Americans, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found age is key in determining whether damaging blood vessels will form beneath the retina and contribute to vision loss.

2 Nov 2007

Grape seed supplement studied for cardiovascular health benefits

Could some of the natural chemicals found in plants be powerful enough to improve cardiovascular health?

24 Oct 2007

Interleukin-8, key marker for colorectal cancer treatment

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is currently one of the three most frequent malignancies in Western industrial nations.

10 Oct 2007

Promising trial results show biologic therapy ustekinumab significantly improved psoriasis

The first reported findings from an international, Phase 3 study showed that more than two-thirds of patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis receiving two doses of ustekinumab (CNTO 1275) achieved at least a 75 percent reduction in psoriasis at week 12, the primary endpoint of the study, as measured by the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI 75).

4 Oct 2007

Depression, aging, and proteins made by a virus may all play role in heart disease

Researchers here have linked an increase in two immune system proteins essential for inflammation to a latent viral infection and proposed a chain of events that might accelerate cardiovascular disease.

2 Oct 2007

Cell that triggers symptoms in allergy attacks can also limit damage

A blood cell known as a troublemaker for triggering the itch and inflammation in allergy attacks, the mast cell, can also calm down the flare-ups, researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine have found.

3 Sep 2007

New insights into knee injuries and osteoarthritis in the knee

The sort of swelling that occurs when a joint is damaged by injury or degeneration is normally essential to the healing process, but when it comes to the knee, that inflammation can actually interfere with healing.

30 Aug 2007

Lipid offers new ways of treating inflammatory kidney diseases

Scientists report in the September 2007 issue of the Journal of Lipid Research that a lipid known to protect the heart from inflammation and to cause skin allergic reactions also reduces inflammation of the kidneys.

29 Aug 2007

Study looks at large burns

Large burns can trigger cardiac problems and enhanced inflammatory and hypermetabolic responses in patients, a study in the online open access journal Critical Care suggests.

24 Aug 2007

Cytokines shown to be a cause of type 2 diabetes

In the first large scale, multiethnic study of its kind, researchers at UCLA have confirmed the role played by three particular molecules known as cytokines as a cause of Type 2 diabetes, and further, have identified these molecules as early biological markers that may be used to more accurately predict future incidences of diabetes among apparently healthy individuals.

16 Aug 2007

Immunity in social amoeba suggests ancient beginnings

Finding an immune system in the social amoeba (Dictyostelium discoideum) is not only surprising but it also may prove a clue as to what is necessary for an organism to become multicellular, said the Baylor College of Medicine researcher who led the research that appears in the journal Science.

3 Aug 2007

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol opens door for virus that causes Kaposi's sarcoma

The major active component of marijuana could enhance the ability of the virus that causes Kaposi's sarcoma to infect cells and multiply, according to a team of researchers at Harvard Medical School.

2 Aug 2007

New risk genes for multiple sclerosis

Two new large-scale genomic studies have honed in on the main genetic pathway associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), while also uncovering new genetic variations in the disease and suggesting a possible link between MS and other autoimmune diseases.

1 Aug 2007

Obesity a risk factor for multiple myeloma

An obese person is more likely than a lean person to develop multiple myeloma, according to researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard School of Public Health.

20 Jul 2007