Immunology News and Research

Latest Immunology News and Research

Promising antimicrobial agent kills viruses, stimulates immune system

A promising antimicrobial agent already known to kill bacteria can also kill viruses and stimulate the innate immune system, according to researchers at National Jewish Health.

4 Jun 2009

Metformin may 'revolutionize' cancer-fighting treatments

Researchers at McGill University and the University of Pennsylvania have discovered that a widely used anti-diabetic drug can boost the immune system and increase the potency of vaccines and cancer treatments. Their findings will be published June 3 in the journal Nature.

3 Jun 2009

Hydrogen peroxide marshals immune system

When you were a kid your mom poured it on your scraped finger to stave off infection. When you got older you might have even used it to bleach your hair. Now there's another possible function for this over-the-counter colorless liquid: your body might be using hydrogen peroxide as an envoy that marshals troops of healing cells to wounded tissue.

3 Jun 2009

Scientists uncover mode of action of enzyme linked with several types of cancer

Scientists at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal have discovered a key mechanism used by cells to efficiently distribute chromosomes to new cells during cell multiplication.

3 Jun 2009

Discovery of enzyme involved in inflammatory bowel disease

Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine, working with biochemists, geneticists and clinicians at the University of Bern, Switzerland and in the United Kingdom, have discovered an enzyme that has a key role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

2 Jun 2009

Study to evaluate ‘Active Hexose Correlated Compound’ and the swine flu virus

A study evaluating the effect of AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compound) on supporting the immune system in response to the swine flu virus will be conducted at the Southern China Agricultural University, one of the few research centers in China that have been approved to conduct studies on highly infectious diseases such as the swine flu. This controlled study will examine the effects of AHCC when supplemented to a group of mice infected with the virus.

1 Jun 2009

Linking microRNAs with cells that regulate the immune system could lead to new disease therapies

Linking genetic material microRNAs with cells that regulate the immune system could one day lead to new therapies for treating cancer, infections and autoimmune diseases, according to a Henry Ford Hospital study.

1 Jun 2009

Researchers plan to target immune cells responsible for eluding antiretroviral treatment

Certain human immune cells known as macrophages are composed of hybrid HIV strains that elude treatment and antiretroviral drugs, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Florida and other institutions, the Gainesville Sun reports.

31 May 2009

Discovery of biochemical signals that help immune cells remember how to fight infection

Immunology researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered how two biochemical signals play unique roles in promoting the development of a group of immune cells employed as tactical assassins.

28 May 2009

New cellular targets for HIV drug development

Focusing HIV drug development on immune cells called macrophages instead of traditionally targeted T cells could bring us closer to eradicating the disease, according to new research from University of Florida and five other institutions.

27 May 2009

To spread, skin cancer attacks immune dendritic cells

Dendritic cells are the sentinels of the immune system. When they're alert and on guard, they will marshal the body's immunosoldiers, T cells, to battle at the sight of harmful pathogens. But some diseases, such as cancer, are able to escape their watchful eye. By knocking out or beguiling dendritic cells, they slip the defenses of the immune system and sack the unsuspecting body.

27 May 2009

Diabetes drug pioglitazone shows potential against multiple sclerosis

A drug currently FDA-approved for use in diabetes shows some protective effects in the brains of patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis, researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine report in a study currently available online in the Journal of Neuroimmunology.

26 May 2009

Arthritis drug Abatacept may be effective in fighting the flu

Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have found that an approved drug for treating rheumatoid arthritis reduces severe illness and death in mice exposed to the Influenza A virus. Their findings suggest that tempering the response of the body's immune system to influenza infection may alleviate some of the more severe symptoms and even reduce mortality from this virus.

26 May 2009

Researchers unlock mystery of potentially fatal reaction to smallpox vaccine

Researchers from the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology have pinpointed the cellular defect that increases the likelihood, among eczema sufferers, of developing eczema vaccinatum, a severe and potentially fatal reaction to the smallpox vaccine.

25 May 2009

New understanding on how superbugs manipulate the immune system

It appears that some superbugs have evolved to develop the ability to manipulate the immune system to everyone's advantage.

24 May 2009

Bacteria of the Yersinia genus possess a unique protein thermometer

Bacteria are experts at adaptation: as soon as they have infected an organism, they adapt their metabolism to that of their host and produce substances which protect them from the body's immune defences. How they do this is still unknown in the case of many types of bacteria.

20 May 2009

Computer simulation captures immune response to flu

Researchers have successfully tested first the first time a computer simulation of major portions of the body's immune reaction to influenza type A, with implications for treatment design and preparation ahead of future pandemics, according to work accepted for publication, and posted online, by the Journal of Virology.

18 May 2009

Automated tissue engineering on demand

Skin from a factory - this has long been the dream of pharmacologists, chemists and doctors. Research has an urgent need for large quantities of 'skin models', which can be used to determine if products such as creams and soaps, cleaning agents, medicines and adhesive bandages are compatible with skin, or if they instead will lead to irritation or allergic reactions for the consumer. Such test results are seen as more meaningful than those from animal experiments, and can even make such experiments largely superfluous.

18 May 2009

Baylor Research Institute receives multi-million dollar grant to develop flu vaccine

Scientists at Baylor Institute for Immunology Research (BIIR) in Dallas, part of Baylor Research Institute (BRI) and the Baylor Health Care System, announced today that they received a renewal of a multi-million dollar grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to design new vaccines to prevent influenza - including swine flu (H1N1).

13 May 2009

Anti-viral ribavirin may prove effective in treatment of many cancers

A ground-breaking Canada-wide clinical trial led by Dr. Katherine Borden, at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal, has shown that a common anti-viral drug, ribavirin, can be beneficial in the treatment of cancer patients.

13 May 2009