by University of Pittsburgh In a first on the quest to cure HIV, University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health scientists report today in EBioMedicine that they’ve developed an all-in-one immunotherapy approach that not only kicks HIV out of hiding in the immune system, but also kills it. The key lies in immune cells designed to recognize an entirely different virus. The discovery, made...
Category: <span>Immunology</span>
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Autoimmune diseases are related to each other, some more than others
by The Endocrine Society Researchers using the world’s largest twin registry to study seven autoimmune diseases found the risk of developing the seven diseases is largely inherited, but that some diseases are more closely related than others. These results will be presented Sunday at ENDO 2019, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in New Orleans, La. “These results...
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Restoring this enzyme’s function protects against heart disease in lupus and beyond
The enzyme that produces nitric oxide shows promise as a new therapeutic target for heart disease in lupus, report Medical University of South Carolina researchers in Lupus Science & Medicine; it could also be relevant to heart disease more broadly MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Patients with lupus, an inflammatory disease in which the body’s immune system...
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MD Anderson study may explain why Immunotherapy not effective for some patients with metastatic melanoma and kidney cancer
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS M. D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER White blood cells known as B cells have been shown to be effective for predicting which cancer patients will respond to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Study results will be presented April 2 at...
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A new drug promises to lower risks of asthma attack
by Himanshu Kaul, The Conversation A recent study shows that a gamechanger drug called Fevipiprant promises to lower patients’ risks of suffering an asthma attack and being admitted to a hospital. This is the first time a drug reducing airway smooth muscle mass—a key clinical indicator of disease severity that increases the likelihood of more frequent...
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Topical Immunotherapy keeps skin cancer risk at bay
Treating precancerous skin lesions prevents full-blown cancer WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE A combination of two topical creams already shown to clear precancerous skin lesions from sun-damaged skin also lowers the risk that patients will later develop squamous cell carcinoma of the skin. The study, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Massachusetts General Hospital, and...
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Study gives new perspective on production of blood cells and immune cells
by University of California – Santa Cruz New findings support a model of blood cell differentiation in which the production of red blood cells is the default fate of hematopoietic stem cells, which can also produce platelets and white blood cells. Credit: Boyer et al., 2019 A healthy adult makes about 2 million blood cells every...
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When is best time to get flu shot? Analysis compares scenarios
UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH PITTSBURGH, March 14, 2019 – When flu season peaks after mid-winter, tens of thousands of influenza cases and hundreds of deaths can likely be avoided if older adults wait until October to get their flu immunization, a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine analysis reveals in the April issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The protection offered by the flu vaccine...
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FDA approves first Immunotherapy drug for breast cancer
The combination of immunotherapy (Tecentriq) and chemotherapy (Abraxane) was given accelerated approval for triple-negative breast cancer that is locally advanced or has metastasized, cannot be surgically removed, and is programmed death-ligand 1-postive, CNNreported. A study published last October in the New England Journal of Medicine revealed a median progression-free survival of 7.4 months among patients...
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Immune profile two days after stroke predicts dementia a year later
Stanford researchers have found that transient changes in the numbers and activation levels of a handful of circulating immune cell types can predict the likelihood of dementia one year after a stroke. A pattern of inflammatory activity in circulating blood cells two days aftera stroke strongly predicts the likelihood of losing substantial mental acuity one year later, investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine report in a new study. The findings, based...