How a potentially deadly bacterium that could be used as a bioterrorist tool eludes being killed by the human immune system is now better understood, researchers report in the December issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have developed an experimental vaccine that could, theoretically, eliminate malaria from entire geographic regions, by eradicating the malaria parasite from an area’s mosquitoes.
HIV-infected patients undergoing surgical procedures may be more likely to develop pneumonia after surgery and to die within 12 months than those without HIV, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, HIV patients with a preoperative viral load (number of copies of the virus in the blood) greater than 30,000 per milliliter appear to have increased risk of surgical complications.
A comprehensive survey of the serologic proteome in human SLE suggests that severely disrupted chemokine gradients may contribute to the systemic autoimmunity observed.
In a mouse model of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), anti-NMDA receptor antibodies have been shown to gain access to the brain during stress, specifically damaging the amygdala (a part of the brain that is involved in emotion) and causing altered emotional responses.
Scientists in Austria are reporting detection of previously unrecognized proteins that accumulate on the surface of silicone breast implants after implants are in the body. Georg Wick and colleagues say that the proteins may be involved in causing immune reactions in patients from breast implants and other types of silicone implants.
HANNAH ASIEM, RN, MSN, nursing program director at BROWN MACKIE COLLEGE in South Bend, Ind., can discuss the causes of pneumonia, its health complications, and ways people can prevent developing this common yet serious winter ailment: “If a person does get pneumonia, which causes a frequent cough that yields thick sputum that could be greenish in color, they must see a doctor and they may be prescribed anti-infective agents, which will help kill the bacteria.
An effective response of the immune system’s “killer” T cells against infection with HIV may depend on exactly which viral protein is targeted, according to an international group of researchers. A new study finds that HIV-infected individuals in whom virus-specific CD8 T cells are targeted against the Gag protein have lower viral levels than do those with CD8 responses directed against other viral proteins.
When it comes to an immune response against HIV, research funded by the Wellcome Trust in the UK and the National Institutes of Health in the US has found that bigger is not necessarily better, contrary to conventional medical wisdom. The research may have a profound impact on the development of a vaccine against the disease.
Scientists at the University of Bonn have identified a new gene which could play an important role in the development of diabetes. Flies in which this hereditary factor is defective are also significantly smaller than other members of their species and live appreciably longer. In the current issue of the prestigious journal Nature the Bonn researchers have published two articles on this topic.