https://medicalxpress.com/immunology-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Allergy and immunology Researchers from Trinity have discovered how two deadly coronaviruses (SARS1 and MERS) outsmart one of our most important antiviral defenses by shutting down parts of the immune system. The findings help explain why certain therapies (using interferon) have performed poorly in past outbreaks and point toward new therapeutic strategies that could matter in future coronavirus emergencies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-sars-mers-trigger-immune-antiviral.html Thu, 18 Jun 2026 10:20:04 EDT news700994779 GLP-1 receptor agonists are currently among the most widely discussed classes of drugs worldwide. They have gained popularity for their effectiveness in treating type 2 diabetes and obesity, but increasing evidence suggests their effects may be much broader. Recent studies indicate that they may also influence inflammatory processes responsible for the development of many skin diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-diabetes-obesity-drugs-inflammation-skin.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 20:00:03 EDT news700922643 Researchers from National Taiwan University (NTU) and National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH) have identified a promising way to reinvigorate the body's cancer-fighting immune cells by rewiring their metabolism, revealing a potential new strategy for cancer immunotherapy. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-rewired-metabolism-revive-exhausted-immune.html Wed, 17 Jun 2026 13:00:12 EDT news700916701 Scientists have discovered a new protective communication circuit between specialized immune cells in the intestines, a circuit that may be therapeutically targeted to improve inflammatory bowel disease outcomes, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-immune-cell-circuit-barrier-function.html Tue, 16 Jun 2026 13:20:04 EDT news700832641 In a new study published in Science Immunology, researchers at King's College London looked at a type of tissue important for the immune response called gut-associated lymphoid tissue (GALT), which is located within the lining of the gut. Unlike other tissue structures in the gut lining that act as a barrier between the trillions of bacteria in the gut and the rest of the body, GALT actively transports gut microbes into the body. By doing this, GALT activates immune responses that help maintain a stable relationship with beneficial gut bacteria. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-immune-cell-interactions-gut-tissue.html Tue, 16 Jun 2026 12:20:08 EDT news700830781 For decades, influenza vaccines have been judged largely by the antibodies they generate in the bloodstream, a measure that has remained the gold standard since the first flu immunizations were administered in the 1940s. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-intranasal-flu-vaccine-decades-underappreciated.html Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:40:05 EDT news700486260 About 25 million people in the U.S.—roughly eight out of 100—are diagnosed with asthma. Allergens, air pollution, extreme weather conditions and other irritants can cause chronic lung inflammation, leading to coughing, wheezing or shortness of breath. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-asthma-reshape-airway-tissue-mechanical.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 18:00:05 EDT news700754821 An international team of researchers report in the journal Nature Immunology that a mutation in the gene OTULIN causes pediatric-onset pyoderma gangrenosum, characterized by recurrent ulcerating skin sores. They classify the condition as a new inborn error of immunity (IEI)—one of a group of more than 500 genetic disorders that impair the development or function of the immune system. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-genetic-rare-skin-condition-therapeutic.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 17:00:07 EDT news700752781 Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) have identified a target that may improve the response to CAR T-cell therapy, a treatment for patients with recurrent or difficult-to-treat blood cancers. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-potential-car-cell-therapy-response.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:40:12 EDT news700758513 A detailed cellular study of Crohn's disease has mapped how gene activity changes across more than 50 cell types in the gut. The study provides an open resource of the genes that characterize each cell type and those whose activity shifts in disease, uncovering new molecular and cellular signatures of immune activity in the gut lining. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-crohn-atlas-gene-shifts-gut.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:40:03 EDT news700752661 Dual-target CAR T-cell therapy for recurrent glioblastoma (GBM), delivered directly into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), triggers a broad immune response, with natural killer (NK) cell activation linked to better patient outcomes and longer overall survival. CSF of individuals who did not respond to the therapy exhibited a higher proportion of activated regulatory T cells (Tregs) and high baseline levels of immunosuppressive scavenger myeloid cells, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine and Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, published in Cell. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-immune-success-dual-car-therapy.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 16:20:04 EDT news700752355 Certain white blood cells in the immune system, known as neutrophils, can make cancer immunotherapy less effective, according to a new study from Karolinska Institutet published in the journal Immunity. The results show that a signaling molecule in the tumor affects neutrophils, reducing the effect of treatment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-immunotherapy-tumor-triggered-neutrophils-cancer.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:40:10 EDT news700742702 Researchers from Amsterdam UMC, in collaboration with other hospitals, have successfully completed the first Phase III study of an in vivo CRISPR therapy. In this large-scale, double-blind trial, 80 patients with hereditary angioedema were randomized to receive either the CRISPR therapy or a placebo. CRISPR therapy is a medical technique that allows doctors to precisely modify errors in cellular DNA to treat specific hereditary diseases. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-vivo-crispr-therapy-successfully-hereditary.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:20:07 EDT news700740453 You might think of cancer as a mass of rogue cells that grow uncontrollably. But cancer is more organized and strategic than that. Rather, cancer is a tightly controlled cellular neighborhood that can keep the body's defenses out or weaken them once they get in. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-cancer-requires-immune-cells-infiltrate.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:20:01 EDT news700740362 It's common knowledge that ticks can spread infections that cause serious illnesses, including Lyme disease. Now health officials are trying to raise awareness of a lesser-known problem: a life-threatening allergy to meat triggered by tick bites. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-alpha-gal-syndrome-life-threatening.html Mon, 15 Jun 2026 04:20:01 EDT news700714047 Scientists at Florida International University may have found a way to make a powerful cancer treatment work even better. The treatment, called CAR-T therapy, uses a patient's own immune cells to fight cancer. Doctors remove special immune cells called T-cells from the body, genetically change them in a lab so they can recognize cancer, and then put them back into the patient to attack tumors. The therapy has already helped many people with serious blood cancers such as lymphoma and leukemia. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-sugar-coated-car-cells-survive.html Sat, 13 Jun 2026 08:00:01 EDT news700148293 Patients with COVID-19 can show several different antiviral immune response patterns, which may influence how the disease develops. This is shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet, published in Genome Medicine, highlighting the importance of interactions between the immune system and metabolism. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-severe-covid-reveals-distinct-immune.html Fri, 12 Jun 2026 17:40:01 EDT news700478922 New research from Imperial College London suggests that infection with the influenza virus may leave people more susceptible to tuberculosis. The findings suggest that seasonal flu vaccines could offer a potential new strategy for preventing and controlling tuberculosis in regions around the world where prevalence is high and people are at high risk. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-flu-infection-weaken-tuberculosis-defenses.html Fri, 12 Jun 2026 11:00:01 EDT news700479061 Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that so-called "zombie cells" come with a catch. In response to severe damage, when cells can't recover full function but aren't ready to die, they can become senescent, in a zombie-like state between life and death. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-immune-aging.html Fri, 12 Jun 2026 08:40:01 EDT news700465562 A new treatment that involves growing a patient's immune cells and then infusing them back into their body has shown promise for people with the rare blood disorder aplastic anemia. Results from the Phase 1 trial, led by Professor Ghulam Mufti, provide the first evidence that autologous regulatory T-cell therapy is feasible and safe in people with aplastic anemia and may have clinical benefit. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-treatment-patients-rare-blood-disorder.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 20:00:01 EDT news700389678 Daily life is shaped by the solar day, influencing when we wake up, eat, work and sleep. Inside the body, a similar internal timing system—present in nearly every cell—known as the circadian clock synchronizes many biological functions, such as sleep, metabolism, hormone release and even the immune system's activity. Now, researchers from Kyushu University have uncovered a previously unknown mechanism by which the circadian clock protein called brain and muscle ARNT-like 1 (BMAL1) enhances inflammatory responses in immune cells. The findings offer new insights into how the body clock influences immune responses and may pave the way for new approaches to treating inflammatory diseases and cancer. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-body-clock-inflammation-cancer-future.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 18:00:04 EDT news700413837 Scientists have made great progress in harnessing the body's own immune cells to treat so-called liquid tumors, cancers of the blood and lymphatic system. Yet these powerful cell therapies have been no match for solid tumors, which are tough to access and secrete signals that can stifle immune cells that get too close. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-supercharged-natural-killer-cells-suppress.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 11:40:13 EDT news700395061 Sjögren's disease is a widespread chronic autoimmune disorder that attacks the body's own glands, yet its underlying disease mechanisms remain poorly understood. In a recent study, researchers from Japan discovered a self-reinforcing loop between different immune cells that sustains autoimmune responses in patients with Sjögren's disease. Their findings pave the way for safer and more effective therapies. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-scientists-reveal-autoimmune-vicious-sjgren.html Thu, 11 Jun 2026 09:00:04 EDT news700386541 Researchers at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, together with Newcastle University's Translational and Clinical Research Institute and the Department of Immunology at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, have identified an important driver of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This discovery reshapes understanding of IBD and opens the way to targeted approaches to diagnosis and treatment in a subset of patients. The findings suggest that inflammatory bowel disease is not a single condition, but a group of biologically distinct diseases driven by different underlying mechanisms. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-decades-puzzle-scientists-uncover-inflammatory.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 17:00:03 EDT news700323061 Healthy sleep and regular exercise can work to counteract genetic mutations in white blood cells that are associated with cardiovascular disease and are most common among older people, Mount Sinai researchers have found. In a study published in Nature, the team reported for the first time that sufficient sleep and exercise can help reduce the cancer-like cell expansion and atherosclerotic risk linked to mutations that spontaneously occur in white blood cells. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-curb-heart-mutant-white-blood.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 15:40:03 EDT news700321651 A Northwestern Medicine study has offered new clues as to why immunotherapy works well for some bladder cancer patients but fails for others, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-immune-biomarkers-response-bladder-cancer.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 13:40:04 EDT news700313521 Asthma is the most common chronic disease and one of the main causes of hospitalization among children. The Global Asthma Network has estimated that its global prevalence is 9.1% for children and 11.0% for adolescents, but this percentage varies greatly among countries, regions and environments. Worldwide, the highest prevalence of pediatric asthma—above 20%—occurs in the British Isles and in parts of Oceania and the Middle East. Known risk factors for developing asthma include exposure to air pollution and smoking, childhood viral infections, obesity, and pre-existing allergies such as eczema or hay fever. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-cats-worsen-asthma-children.html Wed, 10 Jun 2026 00:00:03 EDT news700154881 New research from the Snow Center for Immune Health is challenging long-held assumptions about autoimmune disease, revealing that celiac disease may be driven not just by an overactive immune system, but by subtle defects in how immune cells function. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-celiac-weaker-helper-cells-overactive.html Tue, 09 Jun 2026 13:40:03 EDT news700228381 HIV can damage the brain and cause memory and cognitive problems. And once HIV enters the brain, it does not leave. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-hiv-brain-doesnt-drugs-inflammation.html Mon, 08 Jun 2026 18:20:02 EDT news700144442 Our genomes contain hundreds of genes with antiviral jobs that are called into action when a virus succeeds in infecting one of our cells. By acting cooperatively, these genes provide defense against a wide range of viruses, comprising what scientists refer to as the innate immune system. However, viruses evolve more rapidly than we do, and many viruses have acquired their own genes—sometimes brazenly stolen from their animal hosts!—that counteract innate immunity. But does this mean that viruses always have the upper hand when it comes to infecting humans? https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-06-tiny-protein-tail-immune-gene.html Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:00:07 EDT news700149781