https://medicalxpress.com/immunology-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Allergy and immunology Researchers at Tel Aviv University have developed one of the first experimental models that faithfully reproduces eosinophilic gastritis (EoG), a rare but increasingly recognized allergic disease of the stomach. Using this model, they identified the immune pathways responsible for driving the disease and explained why a new generation of biologic therapies currently being evaluated in clinical trials may benefit patients. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-reveal-immune-mechanisms-rare-allergic.html Mon, 13 Jul 2026 13:00:02 EDT news703155292 People with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have a significantly increased risk of death from cardiovascular disease. They also suffer from chronic inflammation, the causes of which are still only partly understood. Oxalic acid (oxalate) has so far been known primarily for its role in the formation of kidney stones. The molecule is a natural metabolic byproduct, is found in certain foods and is normally excreted by the kidneys in urine. However, when kidney function is impaired, oxalate accumulates in the body and can promote inflammatory processes. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-oxalate-buildup-triggers-inflammation-cardiac.html Fri, 10 Jul 2026 15:40:03 EDT news702908086 Researchers from Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and University College Dublin (UCD) have shown for the first time that a food supplement made from yeast helps the body make stronger immune cells that can fight cancer. The research teams found that adding a yeast-based supplement to the food of obese laboratory mice changes how their immune cells grow and helps make better cancer-fighting cells. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-yeast-dietary-supplement-safe-nutritional.html Thu, 09 Jul 2026 14:20:02 EDT news702822039 Chronic and viral infections can literally exhaust certain key cells in the immune system from a constant barrage of attacks. But a new pair of papers by scientists at the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) points to a way to understand how this exhaustion happens at a molecular level—and how medicine might be able to leverage this knowledge into future treatments. The two papers appear back-to-back in the latest issue of the peer-reviewed journal Nature Immunology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-chromatin-hubs-cells-chronic-threats.html Wed, 08 Jul 2026 17:20:03 EDT news702741422 A new platform developed by researchers at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center quickly finds and isolates rare, tumor-reactive immune cells that are especially good at recognizing and attacking cancer cells, even without knowing which tumor targets are recognized by the immune cells. This approach addresses a major bottleneck in immunotherapy development and could accelerate the creation of personalized treatments. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-method-isolate-strongest-cancer-immune.html Wed, 08 Jul 2026 15:00:01 EDT news702737512 Researchers at the University of Sheffield have discovered that a fungus deadly to people with weakened immune systems can disable a critical defense used by neutrophils, the body's front-line, infection-fighting white blood cells. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-scientists-uncover-fungi-immune-superbugs.html Wed, 08 Jul 2026 12:40:01 EDT news702724466 A King's College London study, published in Nature Communications, offers insight into how long-term inflammation may contribute to cognitive decline in disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, aging, depression and the lingering neurological effects of viral infections. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mechanism-linking-chronic-inflammation-brain.html Wed, 08 Jul 2026 10:20:07 EDT news702723047 Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center have discovered that gut bacteria help regulate the development of the body's immune system by directing the movement of vitamin A through a previously unrecognized cellular network. The preclinical findings, published in Cell Host & Microbe, could reshape how researchers view conditions in which immune development is disrupted, highlighting nutrient pathways as potential targets for therapeutic intervention. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-gut-bacteria-boost-immune-vitamin.html Wed, 08 Jul 2026 09:40:07 EDT news702721612 Widely recognized as the face of food poisoning, salmonella bacteria lurk in raw meat and poultry, on pets, and in unpasteurized dairy products. If untreated, extreme cases can lead to full-body infections, like typhoid fever. UIC researcher Kiwook Kim wondered why some salmonella infections remain in the intestine, causing uncomfortable but nonfatal symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea, while others evolve into life-threatening infections. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-immune-cells-gut-mesentery-salmonella.html Tue, 07 Jul 2026 16:40:01 EDT news702657931 A protein produced by gut immune cells orchestrates both immune protection against pathogens and immune tolerance of gut bacteria, according to a study led by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators. The discovery illuminates the complex biology of the gut immune system and could lead to better-targeted treatments for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-key-gut-protein-immune-tolerance.html Tue, 07 Jul 2026 13:00:05 EDT news702646991 A new "tumor-on-a-chip" model is giving scientists a live look at how pancreatic cancer can recruit the body's own immune cells to help tumors survive. Researchers say the findings, published in Biofabrication, reveal possible new targets to weaken the cancer's defenses and make treatments work better. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-tumor-chip-reveals-pancreatic-cancer.html Tue, 07 Jul 2026 07:20:05 EDT news702627009 A molecule linked to chronic inflammation disrupts the brain's ability to create new neurons, uncovering a pathway with therapeutic potential for neurodegenerative diseases and neurological conditions. The King's College London study, published in Nature Communications, offers insight into how long-term inflammation may contribute to cognitive decline in disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, aging, depression and the lingering neurological effects of viral infections. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-tnf-alpha-blocks-neurons-hippocampus.html Tue, 07 Jul 2026 05:00:07 EDT news702570910 In people with severely compromised immune systems, JC polyomavirus can trigger an untreatable, often fatal brain disease. An international research team has identified how virus mutations can strategically interfere with how human antibodies recognize the virus, allowing it to evade an immune response. The new insights into the interactions between the JC polyomavirus and the human immune system, published in PNAS, could lay the foundation for the development of treatments and vaccines. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-mutations-jc-polyomavirus-evade-antibodies.html Mon, 06 Jul 2026 17:40:04 EDT news702575862 A new HIV vaccine developed by La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI), Scripps Research scientists and IAVI has the potential to protect humans from developing HIV infection and AIDS. This HIV vaccine is the first to generate a high number of "broadly neutralizing" virus-fighting antibodies in primates. The research is published in the journal Nature. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-hiv-vaccine-triggers-broadly-neutralizing.html Mon, 06 Jul 2026 16:30:02 EDT news702571560 Chinese researchers have revealed the key role of iron in initiating allergic airway inflammation. The study, which was published in Cell, was conducted by a team led by Prof. Sun Bing from the Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science (Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), along with Prof. Liu Xing's team from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica of CAS. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-iron-trigger-asthma-linked-airway.html Mon, 06 Jul 2026 15:50:01 EDT news702571216 A novel vaccination strategy against certain malignant brain tumors could fundamentally improve treatment for patients. Researchers from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Mannheim University Medical Center, Heidelberg University Hospital and numerous partner institutions have published encouraging long-term results from a clinical trial involving a vaccine that activates the immune system against a common genetic mutation in these tumors. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-brain-tumor-vaccine-links-mutation.html Mon, 06 Jul 2026 12:00:09 EDT news702554252 An interdisciplinary team at Jena University Hospital achieved a surprisingly rapid and significant improvement in two patients with an autoimmune peripheral nervous system disorder. The team administered teclistamab, a drug originally developed for multiple myeloma, and reported in detail in Nature Communications. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-repurposed-cancer-drug-rapidly-eased.html Mon, 06 Jul 2026 11:00:06 EDT news702552216 An Australian study by researchers at Peter Mac has shown that the natural protection against breast cancer offered by childbearing is due to the influx of killer T cells to the breast. The research shows that the cells begin to populate the breast during pregnancy and are closely linked to the changes in the breast epithelial cells. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-pregnancy-killer-cells-breasts-cancer.html Mon, 06 Jul 2026 07:00:08 EDT news702537966 Unlike accidental cell death, some cells can actively decide to die through a controlled process. This is called programmed cell death and can occur in different forms, including apoptosis and necroptosis. Cells use this process when they are damaged, stressed, becoming cancerous, or infected by harmful microbes. This self-destruction mechanism helps to protect the body, but it is also involved in many diseases, such as infections, inflammatory conditions and cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-cancer-cells-die-immune-anti.html Fri, 03 Jul 2026 15:00:03 EDT news702290201 In the event of a severe heart attack, immature immune cells are released into the bloodstream from the bone marrow. A research team led by the University of Münster has demonstrated that the maturity level of neutrophils can be used to determine the short-term risk of death, and this can be assessed through a simple blood test. These findings have been published in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-immature-immune-cells-chances-survival.html Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:40:01 EDT news702290327 Children who have been in contact with dogs in early childhood are, on average, healthier and require fewer courses of antibiotics than children without such contact. The protective association is explained, at least in part, by the spread of dog-associated microbes in the home. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-early-dog-exposure-babies-infections.html Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:40:01 EDT news702281892 Researchers at Karolinska Institutet have uncovered how serotonin-related metabolism helps regulate an understudied immune cell involved in allergic inflammation. The study, published in the journal Allergy, adds to knowledge about how allergic immune responses may be maintained over time. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-serotonin-term-allergic-inflammation-overlooked.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 21:20:03 EDT news702217441 Researchers at Tel Aviv University's Gray Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences have uncovered how a natural and essential immune system process can be hijacked to promote cancer progression. In a new study, the research team developed an advanced technology that enabled it to track macrophages, immune system cells, in real time and reveal how they alter their behavior within a cancerous tumor after consuming dead cancer cells. The findings may pave the way for the development of new treatments targeting the specific macrophages identified in the study, restoring the immune system's ability to fight the tumor instead of helping it. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-tumors-hijack-macrophages-dead-cells.html Thu, 02 Jul 2026 12:20:07 EDT news702210506 Scientists have identified targets on the malaria-causing parasite that could be key to developing a universal vaccine against one of humankind's oldest and deadliest diseases. Researchers from Oregon Health & Science University and collaborators across the globe identified telltale fragments of a malaria-causing parasite that could be targeted by a vaccine designed using T cells, a type of white blood cell. The work is published in the journal Nature. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-malaria-vaccine-quest-narrows-parasite.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:40:03 EDT news702128216 T cells are an elite fighting force of the immune system, seeking out and destroying diseased cells. But in a prolonged campaign against a chronic condition—like a viral infection or cancer—the body needs a steady supply of these killer troops. Where and how these killer troops are generated has been a mystery. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-07-rare-stem-cells-key-chronic.html Wed, 01 Jul 2026 14:20:03 EDT news702128161 For a vaccine to be effective, it must do two things. First, it must trigger an immune response. Second, the vaccine must train the body to remember the response so it can fight that same disease in the future. Now, new research shows that the only vaccine being tested to prevent and treat schistosomiasis can do both, and the researcher who made it possible is Afzal Siddiqui, Ph.D., from the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center (TTUHSC). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-experimental-vaccine-neglected-disease-hundreds.html Mon, 29 Jun 2026 19:40:01 EDT news701970361 Scientists at the University of Oklahoma have identified a previously unrecognized immune system pathway that helps explain how cigarette smoking increases the risk of cardiovascular disease. The findings, published in Circulation Research, show that cigarette smoke activates immune cells that trigger widespread inflammation throughout the body, accelerating the buildup of plaque in arteries. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-triggers-neutrophil-response-link-lungs.html Mon, 29 Jun 2026 18:20:03 EDT news701969701