Phagocytes News and Research

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Scientists say DHA-rich fish oil enhances B cell activity

Fish oil rich in DHA and EPA is widely believed to help prevent disease by reducing inflammation, but until now, scientists were not entirely sure about its immune enhancing effects. A new report appearing in the April 2013 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, helps provide clarity on this by showing that DHA-rich fish oil enhances B cell activity, a white blood cell, challenging the notion that fish oil is only immunosuppressive.

2 Apr 2013

Study: Novel strategy could lead to universal influenza vaccine that can provide long-lasting protection

Seasonal epidemics of influenza result in nearly 36,000 deaths annually in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Current vaccines against the influenza virus elicit an antibody response specific for proteins on the outside of the virus, specifically the hemagglutinin protein.

15 Mar 2013

Researchers characterize brain's immune response to infiltrating metastases

Brain metastases are common secondary complications of other types of cancer, particularly lung, breast and skin cancer. The body's own immune response in the brain is rendered powerless in the fight against these metastases by inflammatory reactions. Researchers at the MedUni Vienna have now, for the first time, precisely characterised the brain's immune response to infiltrating metastases. This could pave the way to the development of new, less aggressive treatment options.

26 Sep 2012

Scientists decipher molecular causes of life-threatening candida fungal infections

With infectious diseases, it is often not the pathogen itself, but rather an excessive inflammatory immune responses death, for instance as a result of organ damage. On intensive care units, sepsis is the second-most common cause of death worldwide. In patients with a severely compromised immune system specially, life-threatening candida fungal infections represent a high risk of sepsis.

30 Jul 2012

Low and high ID50 bacteria act through stealth and frontal attack

Why is it that Mycobacterium tuberculosis can cause tuberculosis with as little as 10 cells, whereas Vibrio cholerae requires the host to ingest up to tens of millions of cells to cause cholera? This is the question that two research teams, from the Pasteur Institute, in France, and the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia and the University of Lisbon, in Portugal, answer in the latest issue of the journal PLoS Pathogens.

28 Feb 2012

Infectious disease-fighting drugs could be designed to block pathogen's entry into cells

New research shows that infectious disease-fighting drugs could be designed to block a pathogen's entry into cells rather than to kill the bug itself.

11 Jan 2012

Scientists identify how cells reduce tissue damage from inflammation in ALI model

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine have found in an animal model of acute lung injury a molecular mechanism that allows cells of the immune system to reduce tissue damage from inflammation.

16 Dec 2011

Two IGB faculty members recognized as University Scholars

Paul Kenis and James Slauch have been named as University Scholars, a program created to recognize the university's most talented teachers, scholars and researchers.

21 Sep 2011

Discovery of a key protein’s role in cell clearance could impact future treatments of autoimmune diseases, obesity and atherosclerosis

The healthy human body is extremely efficient at cleaning house. Every day, we purge 100 to 200 billion dead or dying cells – a process called cell clearance, which is fundamental in our ability to maintain a healthy physiological balance and prevent a number of chronic diseases. Professional cleaning cells, called phagocytes, are responsible for ridding the body of dead, or ‘apoptotic,’ cells.

6 Sep 2011

Discovery in rare disease may shed light on common causes of blindness

In a rare eye disease, the retina degenerates because light-receiving cells fail to regenerate, research led by a student at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine shows.

2 Sep 2011

Researchers helps explain how the adult brain cleans out dead brain cells and produces new ones

Adult brains generate thousands of new brain cells called neurons each day; however only a small fraction of them survive. The rest die and are consumed by scavenger cells called phagocytes. Until now, scientists have not fully understood how this process works, which phagocytes are unique in the brain, and how the removal of dead neurons influences the production of new neurons.

10 Aug 2011

New rapid test accurately distinguishes bacterial and viral infections

Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have developed a new test that quickly and accurately distinguishes between bacterial and viral infections in as little as five hours.

21 Jul 2011

New way to halt lung inflammation

Acute inflammation of the lung is a poorly recognized human disease that develops in surprising and unexpected ways. The acute lung injury (ALI) or adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a vital new concern for soldiers, but it can develop in anyone during a systemic infection, after severe trauma, as a result of bone fracture, following severe burns and in many other ways as well-- the initial cause may have nothing apparent to do with the lung itself.

18 Jan 2011

Columbia research team identifies bacteria may play a key role in atherosclerosis

Dr. Emil Kozarov and a team of researchers at the Columbia University College of Dental Medicine have identified specific bacteria that may have a key role in vascular pathogenesis, specifically atherosclerosis, or what is commonly referred to as "hardening of the arteries" - the number one cause of death in the United States.

6 Jan 2011

Statins activate bacterial-killing properties of white blood cells

Widely prescribed for their cholesterol-lowering properties, recent clinical research indicates that statins can produce a second, significant health benefit: lowering the risk of severe bacterial infections such as pneumonia and sepsis.

18 Nov 2010

Researchers find NCT analogs show antimicrobial, anticoagulant activity

Catheter-related bacteremia can be a significant cause of sickness and death for hemodialysis patients. The anticoagulant heparin is commonly used as a catheter lock solution to prevent thrombosis; however has limited antimicrobial activity.

16 Sep 2010

Researchers investigate antimicrobial activity of Aganocide compounds against H1N1

Fears over the influenza A virus (H1N1; sometimes referred to as swine flu) have motivated researchers to investigate the antimicrobial activity of the Aganocide compounds against viruses. In a study presented at this year's Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a team led by Professor Markus Nagl, MD of Medical University of Innsbruck and including D. Debabov, PhD and K. Hybiske, PhD of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals evaluated the in vitro virucidal activity of three compounds: N-chlorotaurine, a compound produced by human phagocytes; and two NCT analogs, NVC-612 and NVC-422.

16 Sep 2010

Montana State University offers new biomedical technologies for prevention, treatment of viral infections

Researchers at Montana State University have developed six new biomedical technologies that could have applications for treating antibiotic resistant infections, fungal infections and viral infections; boosting humans' innate immunity and improving scientists' ability to study such compounds. The technologies are available for licensing to interested companies and entrepreneurs.

19 Aug 2010

Researchers renew hope that effective vaccine could be developed against Salmonella infection

Research from Malawi, Birmingham and Liverpool has renewed hope that an effective vaccine could be developed against nontyphoidal strains of Salmonella. The work, funded by the Wellcome Trust and GlaxoSmithKline, suggests that the body's immune system could be primed to tackle even the most resilient of strains.

27 Jan 2010

"Nanoworms" and doxorubicin loaded hollow nanoparticles to fight cancer

A team of researchers in California and Massachusetts has developed a "cocktail" of different nanometer-sized particles that work in concert within the bloodstream to locate, adhere to and kill cancerous tumors.

5 Jan 2010