Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Truvada gains FDA approval as HIV preventive

The daily pill is the first aimed at reducing the risk of contracting HIV in healthy people who are at high risk of contracting AIDS. It will have a boxed warning that it should be used only by people whose HIV-negative status is confirmed prior to prescription and at least every three months after.

18 Jul 2012

Researchers uncover mechanism by which aging may weaken immune response

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have uncovered one of the mechanisms by which aging may compromise the ability of the immune system to fight infections and respond to vaccines.

18 Jul 2012

Kawasaki Disease may increase risk of atherosclerosis in children

Cedars-Sinai researchers have linked Kawasaki Disease, a serious childhood illness that causes inflammation of blood vessels throughout the body, with early-onset and accelerated atherosclerosis, a leading cause of heart disease in adults.

18 Jul 2012

Duke University to receive CHAVI-Immunogen Discovery grant for effective HIV vaccine

A large federal grant awarded to Duke University will fund a highly focused program to discover how to induce the precise immune factors needed for effective vaccines against HIV.

17 Jul 2012

New CD141hi DC subset plays a critical role in activating immune response against pathogens

Scientists at A*STAR's Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN), in collaboration with Newcastle University, UK, the Singapore Institute of Clinical Sciences and clinicians from multiple hospitals in Singapore, have identified a new subset of dendritic cells (DCs) in human peripheral tissue which have a critical role in activating our immune response against harmful pathogens.

17 Jul 2012

Introducing missing gene could help extend lives of patients with SMA

A team of University of Missouri researchers has found that introducing a missing gene into the central nervous system could help extend the lives of patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) - the leading genetic cause of infantile death in the world.

17 Jul 2012

Gilead receives FDA approval for Truvada to reduce risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection

Gilead Sciences, Inc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved once-daily oral Truvada (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), in combination with safer sex practices, to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV-1 infection in adults at high risk.

17 Jul 2012

Researchers discover HVEM’s unknown role in fighting off E. coli infections

Despite ongoing public health efforts, E. coli outbreaks continue to infiltrate the food supply, annually causing significant sickness and death throughout the world. But the research community is gaining ground. In a major finding, published today in the scientific journal Nature, researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have discovered a molecule's previously unknown role in fighting off E. coli and other bacterial infections, a discovery that could lead to new ways to protect people from these dangerous microorganisms.

16 Jul 2012

Discovery sheds light on why human body is unable to fight off HIV infection

University of Washington researchers have made a discovery that sheds light on why the human body is unable to adequately fight off HIV infection.

13 Jul 2012

Scientists capture high-quality images of immune cell trafficking in a beating heart

Blood flow to the heart often is interrupted during a heart attack or cardiac surgery. But when blood flow resumes, the heart may still falter. That's because collateral damage can occur as blood re-enters the heart, potentially slowing recovery and causing future cardiac troubles.

12 Jul 2012

SRI receives NIAID grant to develop HIV vaccine

The Scripps Research Institute has been awarded a grant expected to total more than $77 million from the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

12 Jul 2012

FDA clears Asthmapolis’ sensor system and associated software

Asthmapolis announced today that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance to market its asthma sensor system and associated software to healthcare providers and their patients.

11 Jul 2012

TLR1 plays a critical role in protecting the body from food-borne illnesses

A naturally occurring protein called TLR1 plays a critical role in protecting the body from illnesses caused by eating undercooked pork or drinking contaminated water, according to new research from the University of Southern California (USC).

11 Jul 2012

Researchers discover unknown mechanism that promotes growth and spread of cancer

Tiny vesicles released by tumors cells are taken up by healthy immune cells, causing the immune cells to discharge chemicals that foster cancer-cell growth and spread, according to a study by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC - James) and at Children's Hospital in Los Angeles.

11 Jul 2012

SRI International receives DoD grant to develop novel therapy for MS

The Department of Defense (DoD) has awarded SRI International a one-year grant to develop a novel therapy for multiple sclerosis (MS), an autoimmune nervous system disease that affects about 400,000 people in the United States and more than two million people worldwide. There is currently no cure for this disorder, which can impair vision and movement.

11 Jul 2012

Overproduction of hepcidin appears to impair maternal-fetal iron transfer

A growing number of studies imply that children born to obese mothers face health problems stemming from the womb.

10 Jul 2012

Einstein researchers to study molecular mechanism behind Ebola virus infection

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University a five-year, $4.8 million grant to study the molecular mechanism that allows the Ebola virus to cause infection and spread in animals.

10 Jul 2012

Home-based immunoglobulin therapy acceptable in primary immunodeficiency

Subcutaneous immunoglobulin therapy, administered at home, is an acceptable substitute for hospital-based intravenous immunoglobulin in patients with immune deficiencies, according to recent findings published in the Journal of Clinical Immunology.

9 Jul 2012

Regnite to treat primary restless legs syndrome launched in Japan

Astellas Pharma Inc. and XenoPort, Inc. announced today that Regnite (gabapentin enacarbil) Extended-Release Tablets will be launched in Japan on July 10, 2012. Regnite is approved in Japan for the treatment of moderate-to-severe primary restless legs syndrome (RLS).

9 Jul 2012

Novel treatment for cancer based on protein from HIV-1 virus

Yissum, Research and Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, introduces a novel method for treating cancer based on Vif, a protein isolated from the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1). The method was invented by Professor Emeritus Moshe Kotler and Dr. Roni Nowarski from the Department of Immunology and Cancer Research at the Hebrew University.

9 Jul 2012