Immune System News and Research

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Cases of Acute Flaccid Myelitis on the rise across U.S.

According to the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), cases of dangerous and rare Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) are being noted across United States. This disease manifests similar to acute flaccid paralysis caused by polio virus say the experts. There is at present no treatment for this condition that primarily affects children and leads to paralysis of the limbs.

18 Oct 2018

Research points to new target for treating periodontitis

T cells help fight off infection, but they can go overboard. A new study led by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine and the National Institutes of Health shows that a subset of T cells contributes to the problematic inflammation and bone loss that is associated with periodontitis, a severe form of gum disease.

17 Oct 2018

Targeting immune checkpoints in microglia could reduce out-of-control neuroinflammation

A group of Massachusetts General Hospital investigators is proposing that targeting immune checkpoints - molecules that regulate the activity of the immune system - in immune cells called microglia could reduce the inflammatory aspects of important neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

17 Oct 2018

Mice study shows antibiotics are not always necessary to cure sepsis

Biochemists, microbiologists, drug discovery experts and infectious disease doctors have teamed up in a new study that shows antibiotics are not always necessary to cure sepsis in mice.

17 Oct 2018

FDA grants Rare Pediatric Disease Designation for Immusoft’s Iduronicrin genleukocel-T

Immusoft Corporation, a Seattle-Wash.-based cell therapy company, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted it Rare Pediatric Disease Designation (RPDD) for Iduronicrin genleukocel-T, Immusoft's Sleeping Beauty transposon-engineered autologous plasmablasts for the expression and delivery of alpha-L-iduronidase (IDUA) to treat Mucopolysaccharidosis type I (MPS I).

17 Oct 2018

Using Galleria mellonella to assess acute toxicity of chemicals

TruLarv is considered a non-animal technology in the context of UK animal use regulations where procedures on this species are not regulated.

17 Oct 2018

Researchers awarded grant to advance testing of experimental heroin vaccine

Researchers at the U.S. Military HIV Research Program at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y., have been awarded a grant to advance an experimental heroin vaccine through Phase I/IIa clinical trials to assess both its safety and its efficacy against a morphine challenge.

17 Oct 2018

Study of Nigerian breast cancer patients reveals prevalence of aggressive molecular features

A study comparing DNA and RNA data from Nigerian breast cancer patients to patients in a United States database found that certain aggressive molecular features were far more prevalent in tumors from Nigerian women than in black or white American women.

16 Oct 2018

New findings reveal potential cellular players in tumor microenvironment

New findings presented today by CytoReason reveals possible new cellular players in the tumor microenvironment that could impact the treatment process for the most in-need patients - those who have already failed to respond to ipilimumab (anti-CTLA4) immunotherapy.

16 Oct 2018

Environmental conditions may drive development of multiple sclerosis

A new Tel Aviv University study finds that certain environmental conditions may precipitate structural changes that take place in myelin sheaths in the onset of multiple sclerosis. Myelin sheaths are the "insulating tape" surrounding axons; axons carry electrical impulses in neurons.

16 Oct 2018

Fish oil based diets may suppress growth and spread of breast cancer cells

Omega-3 fatty acids, such as those typically contained in fish oil, may suppress the growth and spread of breast cancer cells in mice.

16 Oct 2018

Researchers develop fibrin-targeting immunotherapy to protect against neurodegeneration

Normally, the blood protein fibrin does not enter the brain. But in several neurological disorders, the blood-brain barrier--which keeps large molecules in the blood from entering the brain--becomes abnormally permeable, allowing fibrin to leak into the brain and trigger inflammation.

16 Oct 2018

WRAIR clinical study evaluates safety and immunogenicity of Marburg vaccine

The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research this week administered the first vaccine in a Phase 1 clinical trial to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of a Marburg vaccine candidate in healthy adult volunteers.

15 Oct 2018

Breastfeeding reduces the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in infant gut

A new study from the University of Helsinki shows that babies that are breastfed for at least six months have less antibiotic-resistant bacteria in their gut compared with infants breastfed for a shorter time. In addition, antibiotic use by mothers increases the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in infants.

15 Oct 2018

Potential 'early warning markers' for sepsis discovered

A multi-site research collaboration supported by a Technology Strategy Board Grant has shown that immune response signatures could be used as an early warning test for the serious condition sepsis in patients attending emergency departments with suspected infection.

15 Oct 2018

First-of-its-kind study to test a personalized vaccine in cancer patient

Tamara Strauss has been living with high-grade, stage IV pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer for more than three years. Current treatments, although effective for her, are highly toxic.

15 Oct 2018

Researchers find potential treatment to halt premature labor and birth

Premature birth is the leading cause of infant death and disability in the U.S., and costs billions in dollars and heartache every year. Now, University of Connecticut researchers report in Reproductive Sciences a potential treatment that could stop many cases of premature labor and birth in their tracks.

15 Oct 2018

Study unravels how cancer stem cells use normal genes in abnormal ways

CDK1 is a "normal" protein - its presence drives cells through the cycle of replication. And MHC Class I molecules are "normal" as well - they present bits of proteins on the surfaces of cells for examination by the immune system.

15 Oct 2018

Vagus nerve stimulation can reverse brain inflammation after surgery, mice study shows

For adults over age 65, surgical complications can dampen not only their physical health but also their mental sharpness, with more than half of high-risk cases declining into delirium.

12 Oct 2018

Two major studies on canine cancers may provide clues on human cancers

Two studies into deadly cancers in dogs are now underway, offered through the newly formed Clinical Trials Office at Cummings Veterinary Medical Center at Tufts University. Dogs with spontaneous osteosarcoma, as well as dogs with mast cell tumors and solid tumors, may be eligible for enrollment.

12 Oct 2018