Autoimmune

Immune suppression can help relieve symptoms of autoimmune diseases, but it can cause complications. A new nanoparticle therapy selectively targets problematic immune cells, and was able to significantly delay and even prevent arthritis in mice.

Our immune system can unfortunately go rogue and attack healthy tissues. Scientists at Johns Hopkins University have now engineered a protein that may help prevent these autoimmune diseases by boosting the number of regulatory T cells (Tregs).

Scientists have reported that five patients undergoing an experimental treatment for lupus have all entered remission for up to 17 months. The promising breakthrough came from the use of CAR T cell immunotherapy, increasingly used to treat cancer.

The FDA has followed highly promising results from trials demonstrating the hair regrowth potential of a common arthritis drug with a landmark approval, giving baricitinib the green light as a treatment for severe alopecia areata.

Scientists may have uncovered a new therapy for multiple sclerosis, involving an inflammation-regulating lipid. Tests in mice showed that the lipid reduced symptoms and slowed disease progression, hinting at an underlying mechanism for the condition.

In pursuit of a treatment for alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss, scientists have found new success by repurposing a common arthritis drug which proved effective in around a third of subjects.

Evidence is mounting that innocuous viral infections can in some cases cascade into a range of serious diseases. In a new study in mice, researchers uncovered a mechanism by which a common childhood virus could play a role in autoimmune diseases.

A new understanding of the way the body teaches immune cells to fight off threats has raised hopes of advanced treatments for autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis, along with other diseases such as cancer.

Data from a large placebo-controlled clinical trial investigating the effects of daily vitamin D and omega-3 found those taking vitamin D alone, or in conjunction with omega-3, showed lower rates of autoimmune disease compared to those taking placebo.

Cedars-Sinai researchers are reporting even mild COVID-19 cases show lingering signs of an overactive immune system months after the acute disease, and experts are concerned the current wave of Omicron infections could lead to huge rates of long COVID.

Spotted salamanders are unique among vertebrates, in that they're the only ones whose embryos have an algae living inside them. Scientists are now hoping that a better understanding of this symbiotic relationship could lead to new drugs for humans.

The immune system is a powerful weapon, but sometimes it can attack things that are trying to help us. A new preclinical treatment could one day help, using a kind of “reverse vaccine” to train the immune system to ignore specific drugs or molecules.