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Immune modulator drugs improved clinical status, reduced deaths among patients hospitalized with COVID-19

A large randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial led by the National Institutes of Health shows that treating adults hospitalized with COVID-19 with infliximab or abatacept - drugs widely used to treat certain autoimmune diseases - did not significantly shorten time to recovery but did substantially improve clinical status and reduce deaths.

2 Jun 2022

Combination bNAb therapy may offer a future alternative to daily ART for people living with HIV

Individuals with HIV who began taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the early stages of infection achieved a lengthy period of HIV suppression without ART after receiving two broadly neutralizing anti-HIV antibodies (bNAbs), according to a small study published today in the journal Nature.

1 Jun 2022

People with food allergies less likely to become infected with SARS-CoV-2, study finds

A National Institutes of Health-funded study has found that people with food allergies are less likely to become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, than people without them. In addition, while previous research identified obesity as a risk factor for severe COVID-19, the new study has identified obesity and high body mass index (BMI) as associated with increased risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection.

1 Jun 2022

Molecular pathway allows cells to sense when their lipid supplies become depleted

UT Southwestern researchers have discovered a molecular pathway that allows cells to sense when their lipid supplies become depleted, prompting a flurry of activity that prevents starvation.

18 May 2022

NIH awards $577 million to establish AViDD Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, has awarded approximately $577 million to establish nine Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern.

18 May 2022

Scientists use machine learning techniques for better characterization of long COVID

A research team supported by the National Institutes of Health has identified characteristics of people with long COVID and those likely to have it.

16 May 2022

Free fatty acid-binding pocket found to be preserved across spike proteins of beta coronaviruses

Researchers assessed the binding pocket of linoleic acid, an essential free-fatty acid in the receptor-binding domains of the spike protein of beta-coronaviruses.

26 Apr 2022

Researchers elucidate how ovarian tumors defy immunotherapy

Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health, with collaborators at La Jolla Institute for Immunology and elsewhere, have further elucidated how ovarian cancer tumors defy immunotherapy, identifying new molecular targets that might boost immune response.

12 Apr 2022

COVID-19 protection increases after fourth vaccine dose but declines quickly

A new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine has focussed on the relative effectiveness of the fourth dose, compared to the three doses vaccination regime, against confirmed infection and severe illness among older persons in the Israeli population.

6 Apr 2022

Scientists identify a promising strategy for stopping Ebola virus polymerase

To treat Ebola virus infections, researchers are taking a close look at a key piece of the virus: polymerase.

23 Mar 2022

Immune cells could help predict the prognosis of patients with ALS

Immune cells could help predict the prognosis of patients with the rare neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), says a study published today in eLife.

15 Mar 2022

NIH launches Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating three experimental mRNA HIV vaccines

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, has launched a Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating three experimental HIV vaccines based on a messenger RNA (mRNA) platform—a technology used in several approved COVID-19 vaccines.

14 Mar 2022

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein characteristics responsible for viral evolution in human hosts

Researchers directly compared the pre-fusion spikes of SARS-CoV-2 Alpha and Beta variants with the original Wuhan strain and the D614G-only variant.

8 Mar 2022

A third known case of HIV remission involving stem cell transplant documented

A woman with HIV who received a cord blood stem cell transplant to treat acute myeloid leukemia has had no detectable levels of HIV for 14 months despite cessation of antiretroviral therapy (ART), according to a presentation at today's Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI).

15 Feb 2022

Study assesses the antibody response to additional dose of COVID-19 vaccine in transplant recipients

A study has begun to assess the antibody response to an additional dose of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine in kidney and liver transplant recipients, either alone or with a concurrent reduction in immunosuppressive medication.

31 Jan 2022

FDA approval of long-acting injectable drug marks a vital expansion of HIV prevention options

Yesterday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its first approval of a long-acting HIV prevention medication. Developed by ViiV Healthcare, the medicine is long-acting cabotegravir injected once every two months.

21 Dec 2021

NIH scientists highlight the urgent need for universal coronavirus vaccines

A growing body of scientific evidence, considered together with ecological reality, strongly suggest that novel coronaviruses will continue to infect bats and other animal reservoirs and potentially emerge to pose a pandemic threat to humans.

16 Dec 2021

First-of-its-kind gene therapy technique reverses severe hearing loss in mice

Hearing loss has been linked to mutations in at least 100 different genes, but up to 16 percent of genetic hearing loss can be traced to just one gene, STRC, the second most common genetic cause.

15 Dec 2021

UTSW study points to a new way to fight parasitic nematode diseases

Combining two agents to block a parasitic worm's life cycle boosted survival from a potentially deadly tropical disease to 85% in animal models, far better than either treatment alone, according to a proof-of-concept study led by UT Southwestern Medical Center pharmacologists.

11 Dec 2021

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant: What we know so far

On November 24, 2021, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant was first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from South Africa.

28 Nov 2021