by Karolinska Institutet Credit: CC0 Public Domain A new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden reveals that immune cells in the liver react to high cholesterol levels and eat up excess cholesterol that can otherwise cause damage to arteries. The findings, published in Nature Cardiovascular Research, suggest that the response to the onset of atherosclerosis...
by University of Saskatchewan Graphical abstract. Credit: Cell Reports (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110856 The body’s innate immune system, active from birth, is the first line of defense against viruses and other pathogens that cause disease. Using vaccination as an example, after receiving a vaccine, pain, redness, or swelling may occur at the injection site. This response is a...
by University of Tokyo Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain Why did Japan largely contain COVID-19 despite famously jam-packed Tokyo and despite the country’s proximity to China? With no penalties and only requests for cooperation, Japan’s state of emergency somehow averted the large-scale outbreaks seen elsewhere. At least one viable answer has now emerged. A new comparative analysis...
Proenkephalin+ regulatory T cells expanded by ultraviolet B exposure maintain skin homeostasis with a healing function NAGOYA CITY UNIVERSITY UVB IRRADIATION INDUCES PROLIFERATION AND ACTIVATION OF SKIN TREG CELLS. UVB-EXPANDED SKIN TREG (UVB-SKIN TREG) CELLS PROMOTE WOUND HEALING BY PRODUCING ENKEPHALIN AND AMPHIREGULIN(AREG), WHICH ENHANCE KERATINOCYTE GROWTH/PROLIFERATION TO REPAIR… view more CREDIT: DEPARTMENT IMMUNOLOGY, NAGOYA...
by Jacqueline Carey, University of Illinois at Chicago Macrophages are white blood cells that, depending on the signals they get from the immune system, become specialized in either increasing or decreasing inflammation. When macrophages are programmed to be pro-inflammatory, they help to increase inflammation, which is beneficial for fighting infections; when they are programmed to...
by University of South Carolina Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), when caused by a bacterial toxin known as Staphylococcal enterotoxin, can be completely prevented by treatment with Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant. This exciting finding, recently published in the highly cited British Journal of Pharmacology, also suggests a possible treatment for...
New LJI discovery could help explain patterns of cell death in many autoimmune diseases LA JOLLA INSTITUTE FOR IMMUNOLOGY LA JOLLA–Your pancreas is a little sweet potato-shaped organ that sits snug behind your stomach. The pancreas is studded with islets, the cell clusters that house insulin-producing beta cells. In people with type 1 diabetes, the...
by Ileana Varela, Florida International University The dangers of smoking are common knowledge. Smoking during pregnancy, even second-hand smoke, can hurt both the mother and her child. But her grandchildren? “Second-hand cigarette smoke exposure during pregnancy has damaging effects that could last for generations,” said Hitendra Chand, a biomedical researcher at the Herbert Wertheim College...
NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH RESEARCH Researchers have uncovered how the immune system is altered in a rare COVID-19 related illness in children referred to as paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome (PIMS-TS). PIMS-TS is a rare syndrome which has emerged in a small number of children during the COVID-19 pandemic. The condition causes severe inflammation in blood...
Rutgers researchers discovered a new role the protein may have in helping to treat allergies, asthma, COPD RUTGERS UNIVERSITY A Rutgers-led team may have found the key to treating inflammatory diseases like asthma, allergies, chronic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In a study published in the journal Nature Immunology, researchers discovered that neuromedin...
