Search Tag: immune system
New way to fight sepsis: rev up patients' immune systems
2018 13 Mar
People especially those with critical illness develop sepsis when an infection triggers an overwhelming immune response, ultimately wreaking havoc on the immune system. Traditional approaches to sepsis therapy do not address the critical problem of patients' severely compromised immune systems. Now, a clinical trial demonstrates that a drug that revs... Read more
Immune System Linked to Lower Heart Attack Risk
2016 21 Jun
Research from the British Heart Foundation reveals that antibody levels in the blood could be used to detect a person's heart attack risk. The higher the levels of these antibodies, the lower the risk of heart attack. The research is published in EbioMedicine . Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the biggest killer in the UK and the leading cause of... Read more
Noninvasive Imaging of Immune System Detects Tumours
2015 22 Apr
A new technique that allows real-time, noninvasive imaging of the immune system’s response to the presence of tumours offers a potential breakthrough both in diagnostics and in monitoring efficacy of cancer therapies. Developed in the lab of Whitehead Institute Member Hidde Ploegh, the method utilises the imaging power of positron emission tomography... Read more
IRX Therapeutics to Begin Phase 2B Trials of Immunity-Boosting Cancer Drug
2015 23 Jan
Phase 2B trials of a generic fast-tracked immunity-boosting cancer therapeutic IRX-2 will be conducted after the biotech company IRX Therapeutics has successfully raised $31.6 million to finance these trials. The randomised head and neck cancer trials will include 200 patients and will be conducted in clinical centres across the US and Western Europe.... Read more
Live Coverage of the Immune System at Work via PET Imaging
2015 20 Jan
Researchers at Tübingen University have developed a new technique to safely mark T-cells for non-invasive in vivo imaging to better understand what happens during immune reactions in the body. This technique enabled the investigators to track the T-cell movement in mice using positron emission technology (PET). Previous methods used to follow the movement... Read more
Breath Test for Diagnosing Fungal Pneumonia
2014 24 Oct
Pneumonia is caused by many different microbes, and early identification of the bug culprit is important to ensure timely and appropriate treatment. A novel approach — analysing a patient's breath for key chemical compounds made by the infecting microbe — may help detect invasive aspergillosis, a fungal infection that is a leading cause of mortality... Read more
Flu Vaccine: Key to Preventing Heart Disease?
2014 23 Oct
A new study published in Vaccine reveals for the first time the molecular mechanism which helps to explain how flu vaccines may be able to prevent heart attacks. Flu vaccines have long been known to have a protective effect against heart disease, thus reducing the risk of a heart attack. However, there is not much scientific information to explain... Read more
Insulin-Control Cells Produced in Laboratory
2014 14 Oct
A team at Harvard University has used stem cells to produce hundreds of millions of cells in the laboratory that control blood sugar levels. These are the beta cells in the pancreas that pump out insulin to control blood sugar levels. In people suffering from Type 1 Diabetes, the immune system starts to destroy these cells, leaving them unable to regulate... Read more
Study Uncovers Genetic Evidence: Sepsis Caused by Single Bacteria
2014 24 Mar
A recent study undertaken by an international team of academics and published in the academic journal PLOS Pathogens, has investigated the causes that turn localised infections into the life-threatening systematic disease sepsis, and has found genetic evidence pointing at one single bacteria as the cause. This is the first time that such as... Read more