http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Continuing analysis of an HIV vaccine trial undertaken in Thailand is yielding additional information about how immune responses were triggered and why the vaccine did not protect more people. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-antibodies-limited-hiv-vaccine-trial.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 06 May 2013 15:00:32 EST news287059115 In a study using mice, researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that a hormone, adrenomedullin, plays a crucial role in preventing the pregnancy complication preeclampsia. Surprisingly, this hormone protects women from preeclampsia when emitted by the fetus, not the mother, during the most critical times in pregnancy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-baby-fetuses-emit-hormone-crucial.html Medical research Wed, 01 May 2013 12:00:01 EST news286624849 (Medical Xpress)—Scientists from the Manchester Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research (MCCIR) have discovered why a particular cancer drug is so effective at killing cells. Their findings could be used to aid the design of future cancer treatments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-video-reveals-cancer-cells-achilles.html Cancer Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:22:08 EST news286017597 (Medical Xpress)—Oral supplementation of glutathione is effective in increasing the body's stores of the antioxidant, said Penn State College of Medicine researchers in study results presented at a conference today (April 22). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-oral-supplement-body-storage-antioxidant.html Medical research Tue, 23 Apr 2013 09:00:58 EST news285926450 A major international research study involving Murdoch University has found that individuals born with high numbers of a receptor known as HLA-C on their cells can naturally inhibit HIV. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-hiv-reveal-genetic-double-edged-sword.html HIV & AIDS Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:53:29 EST news284370800 Using the same strategy that a common virus employs to evade the human immune system, researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine have modified adult stem cells to increase their survival – with the goal of giving the cells time to exert their natural healing abilities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-common-virus-fortify-adult-stem.html Medical research Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:09:35 EST news284051343 (Medical Xpress)—It's a theory much discussed in the media – that animals and humans are able to smell certain genes linked to the immune system – which in turn influences their choice of mate. The genes in question are known as MHC (major histocompatibility complex) genes. Selecting a mate with very different MHC genes from one's own makes sense, because your offspring will then have a greater variety of immunity genes – and a correspondingly greater resistance to disease. But until now, no scent offering information about MHC genes had been discovered among those emitted by humans and animals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-molecules-mice-genes.html Medical research Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:22:51 EST news283162953 Scientists from Brigham and Women's Hospital are on the brink of the next treatment advancement that may spell relief for the nearly nineteen million adults and seven million children in the United States suffering from asthma. The scientists discovered two new drug targets in the inflammatory response pathway responsible for asthma attacks. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-scientists-molecule-duty-asthma.html Inflammatory disorders Wed, 27 Feb 2013 14:00:05 EST news281190194 In the last few decades, sci­en­tists have come to attribute an immuno­log­ical expla­na­tion to many can­cers. It is now thought that tumors rise up rou­tinely in the body but that a healthy immune system blocks their devel­op­ment. Thus, for patients who do develop cancer, the immune system is par­tially to blame. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-inflammation.html Immunology Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:14:24 EST news281182443 (Medical Xpress)—Natural killer cells – a vital part of the immune system – have a dual role in protecting against infection and ensuring reproduction. Scientists suggest that the multi-tasking ability of these cells helped humans to spread out of Africa. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-natural-killer-cells-vital-role.html Immunology Fri, 08 Feb 2013 07:29:32 EST news279530965 A research team led by the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology has discovered the mechanism that enables CD4 helper T cells to assume the more aggressive role of killer T cells in mounting an immune attack against viruses, cancerous tumors and other damaged or infected cells. The finding, made in collaboration with researchers from the RIKEN Institute in Japan, could enable the development of more potent drugs for AIDS, cancer and many other diseases based on using this mechanism to trigger larger armies of killer T cells against infected or damaged cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-team-molecular-enabling-immune-cells.html Immunology Sun, 20 Jan 2013 13:00:15 EST news277900981 Researchers from the RIKEN Research Centre for Allergy and Immunology in Japan report today that they have succeeded for the first time in creating cancer-specific, immune system cells called killer T lymphocytes, from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). To create these killer cells, the team first had to reprogram T lymphocytes specialized in killing a certain type of cancer, into iPS cells. The iPS cells then generated fully active, cancer-specific T lymphocytes. These lymphocytes regenerated from iPS cells could potentially serve as cancer therapy in the future. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-japanese-team-cancer-specific-killer-cells.html Medical research Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:42:59 EST news276439356 Natural killer cells, as part of the body´s immune system, can effectively fight cancer. Unfortunately, they quickly lose their aggressiveness and hence are unable to reject solid tumors. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center have now discovered a cocktail consisting of three different immune mediators that leaves NK killer cells active over a long period of time. In mice, cocktail-boosted NK cells let tumors shrink. The cocktail -was able to persistently activate human NK cells, too. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-cocktail-boosts-immune-cells-cancer.html Cancer Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:49:52 EST news274013382 Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute (TRSI) are fueling the future of cancer treatment by improving a powerful tool in disease defense: the body's immune system. By revealing a novel but widespread cell signaling process, the scientists may have found a way to manipulate an important component of the immune system into more effectively fighting disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-potential-therapies-cancer-diseases.html Medical research Tue, 27 Nov 2012 15:35:54 EST news273252942 (Medical Xpress)—In the first of its kind, a translational study undertaken at the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research has revealed that boosting the activity of a rare type of immune cell could be an effective way to vaccinate patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) against their own cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-boosting-immune-responses-leukaemia.html Cancer Wed, 21 Nov 2012 08:48:22 EST news272710049 A hormone-like substance produced by the body to promote inflammation can cause an aggressive form of leukemia when present at high levels, according to a new study by researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC – James). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-chronic-inflammation-cancer.html Cancer Mon, 12 Nov 2012 12:00:09 EST news271941278 To transport substances from the site of their production to their destination, the body needs a sophisticated transport and sorting system. Various receptors in and on the cells recognize certain molecules, pack them and ensure that they are transported to the right place. One of these receptors is Sortilin. It is present in the cells of the nervous system, the liver, and the immune system. Studies by Stefanie Herda and Dr. Armin Rehm (Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, MDC, Berlin-Buch and Charité–Universitätsmedizin Berlin) and the immunologist Dr. Uta Höpken (MDC) have now shown that the receptor Sortilin plays an important role in the function of the immune system. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-elucidate-pathway-immune-substances.html Immunology Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:00:10 EST news269775338 Scientists at the University of Southampton are to investigate the best way to use natural killer cells (NK) to target the most common form of liver cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-combat-common-liver-cancer.html Cancer Fri, 12 Oct 2012 10:29:17 EST news269256550 (HealthDay)—Researchers who discovered an immune system mechanism that seems to provide some people with a natural defense against HIV say their finding could help efforts to develop a vaccine for HIV/AIDS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-scientists-probe-hiv-patients-resist.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 01 Oct 2012 21:30:02 EST news268336637 (Medical Xpress)—Why do many heavy smokers evade lung cancer while others who have never lit up die of the disease? The question has vexed scientists for decades. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-key-immune-cell-role-lung.html Cancer Fri, 21 Sep 2012 07:01:27 EST news267429678 Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered a new "first response" mechanism that the immune system uses to respond to infection. The findings challenge the current understanding of immunity and could lead to new strategies for boosting effectiveness of all vaccines. The study, conducted in mice, published online today in the journal Immunity. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-early-immune-response-vaccines.html Immunology Thu, 30 Aug 2012 13:25:43 EST news265551934 (HealthDay)—A treatment regimen that is effective in preventing diabetes in a mouse model of the disease leads to worsening disease in patients with type 1 diabetes, according to a study published online June 20 in Diabetes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-experimental-combo-treatment-worsens-diabetes.html Diabetes Fri, 24 Aug 2012 12:00:02 EST news265027635 Researchers at the University of Michigan Health System are helping to quell parents' worry about why infants seem to get sick so often. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-infants-sick-reveal-cell-growth.html Immunology Tue, 07 Aug 2012 10:50:29 EST news263555420 Both innate and adaptive immune responses play an important role in controlling influenza virus infection, according to a study, published in the Open Access journal PLoS Computational Biology, by researchers from Oakland University, Michigan, and Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, USA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-innate-immune-responses-critical-influenza.html Medical research Thu, 28 Jun 2012 17:32:23 EST news260123465 University of Georgia scientists have discovered a new flu-fighting role for a well-known component of the immune system. Kimberly Klonowski, assistant professor of cellular biology in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, and her colleagues found that administering a cell-signaling protein known as IL-15 to mice infected with influenza reduces their peak viral load by nearly three times. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-reveals-flu-fighting-role-well-known-immune.html Medical research Tue, 26 Jun 2012 10:07:40 EST news259924052 The rare ability of some individuals to control HIV infection with their immune system alone appears to depend – at least partially – on specific qualities of the immune system's killer T cells and not on how many of those cells are produced. In a Nature Immunology paper that has received advance online publication, researchers at the Ragon Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital, MIT and Harvard report that – even among individuals sharing a protective version of an important immune system molecule – the ability of HIV-specific killer T cells to control viral replication appears to depend on the particular sequence of the protein that recognizes HIV infected cells. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-natural-hiv-sequence-cell-receptor.html Immunology Mon, 11 Jun 2012 15:46:11 EST news258648364 Scientists on Sunday said they had found a key piece in the puzzle as to why a tiny minority of individuals infected with HIV have a natural ability to fight off the deadly AIDS virus. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-revealed-secret-hiv-natural-born.html HIV & AIDS Sun, 10 Jun 2012 13:56:41 EST news258555394 Researchers at Michigan State University have shown a prebiotic may help the body's own natural killer cells fight bacterial infection and reduce inflammation, greatly decreasing the risk of colon cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-prebiotic-severity-colitis.html Medications Thu, 03 May 2012 12:00:03 EST news255261164 Medical scientists at Trinity College Dublin in conjunction with researchers in Paris have investigated the consequence of natural killer cell deficiency in six related patients and identified a new genetic disorder which is responsible for this immune defect. The findings were recently published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-natural-killer-cell-deficiency.html Medical research Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:44:55 EST news251023443 Cold and flu symptoms have a significant impact on our economy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-aged-garlic-ease-cold-symptoms.html Health Mon, 12 Mar 2012 13:00:02 EST news250772280