Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Dieters could have a harder time fighting flu

In a study published in the November issue of the Journal of Nutrition, Gardner showed that mice with a calorie-restricted diet were more likely to die during the first few days of infection than mice with a normal diet. Caloric restriction is the practice of reducing the intake of calories to 40 percent of a normal diet, while maintaining adequate vitamins and minerals.

25 Nov 2008

Scientists trick immune system of mice into believing transplanted islets are its own cells

The body's immune system hates strangers. When its security patrol spots a foreign cell, it annihilates it.

20 Nov 2008

Marijuana may be good for the aging brain

The more research they do, the more evidence Ohio State University scientists find that specific elements of marijuana can be good for the aging brain by reducing inflammation there and possibly even stimulating the formation of new brain cells.

19 Nov 2008

Scientists gain new insights into regulation of calpains

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have gained new insights into regulation of one of the body's enzyme workhorses called calpains.

19 Nov 2008

New imaging technique tracks cancer-killing cells over prolonged period

Coaxing a patient's own cells to hunt down and tackle infected or diseased cells is a promising therapeutic approach for many disorders.

18 Nov 2008

Musculoskeletal Center wins $2.2 million to study biologics safety

The UAB Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics has won a $2.2 million federal grant to study the risks and benefits of a class of drugs called ‘biologics' -- genetically engineered agents targeting the immune system of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease, psoriasis and other autoimmune disorders.

18 Nov 2008

Kinase inhibitors may offer new therapeutic approach for treatment of type 1 diabetes

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have reported that two common cancer drugs have been used to block and reverse type 1 diabetes in mice.

18 Nov 2008

Gut check reveals vast multicultural community of bugs in bowels

Mention the phrase "diverse ecosystem," and it conjures images of tropical rainforests and endangered coral reefs.

18 Nov 2008

Why HIV treatment makes people more susceptible to metabolic complications

Clinicians have known for some time that people treated for HIV also become much more susceptible to diabetes and heart disease.

17 Nov 2008

Scientists discover new cause of fatal brain injury from acute viral meningitis

In a November 16 advance, online publication of the journal Nature, the researchers say their discovery revamps common beliefs about how such potentially lethal infections may be ravaging the brain and suggests the possibility of new treatments.

17 Nov 2008

New research reveals key steps in HIV's assault on the brain

Scientists have unraveled in unprecedented detail the cascade of events that go wrong in brain cells affected by HIV, a virus whose assault on the nervous system continues unabated despite antiviral medications that can keep the virus at bay for years in the rest of the body.

16 Nov 2008

Arsenic-free water provides hope to millions of people in South East Asia

A EU-India consortium led by Queen's University Belfast has led to the development of technology which could provide safe drinking water for over 70 million people in South East Asia. The joint collaboration has resulted in the world's first low-cost technology to provide arsenic-free water to people in India and surrounding countries.

12 Nov 2008

Astragalus root plant chemical used to fight HIV

Like other kinds of cells, immune cells lose the ability to divide as they age because a part of their chromosomes known as a telomere becomes progressively shorter with cell division.

11 Nov 2008

Latest research on diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases

Researchers are presenting more than 450 abstracts on investigational findings in the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases at the ACAAI Annual Meeting in Seattle, Nov. 6-11. Following are highlights of some key studies on asthma.

11 Nov 2008

New advances in diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases

11 Nov 2008

Cells exhausted from fighting HIV infection can be rescued

Researchers at the University of Toronto and the University of California, San Francisco, have revealed new hope for HIV treatment with the discovery of a way to 'rescue' immune cells that are exhausted from fighting off HIV infection.

11 Nov 2008

Food allergies are on the rise but effective treatment in the pipeline

Experts in the U.S. say food allergies are on the rise and although strict avoidance is currently the only treatment, new effective therapies are currently being developed.

10 Nov 2008

Xolair (Omalizumab) shows promise in treating allergic asthma inadequately controlled by inhaled corticosteroid

Data presented today at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI) show that Xolair (Omalizumab) for Subcutaneous Use significantly reduced asthma attacks in children aged six through 11 with moderate or severe persistent allergic asthma inadequately controlled with inhaled corticosteroids.

10 Nov 2008