The Immune System

Scientists at Germany’s University Hospital Bonn have turned their attention to salt's impacts on the human immune system, finding that a diet too heavy on sodium chloride can “significantly weaken” our natural defenses against bacterial infections.

The body protects itself from invading viruses and bacteria using antibodies, but when a new threat emerges it takes time for the body to produce new ones. A new system from Berkeley Lab should speed up the discovery of new artificial antibodies.

A trio of studies are investigating the role our brain’s immune cells play in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Researchers are revealing these cells can contribute to neurodegeneration, and how they may be harnessed to prevent neuron damage.

A new imaging study has found neuroinflammation may be more common in neurodegenerative diseases than previously suspected. The Cambridge research revealed brain inflammation to be a common thread across three different types of dementia.

Scientists have managed to copy one of cancer's strategies to hide from the immune system, and use it for good. They made new microparticles that permanently prevent transplanted tissue or even whole limbs from being rejected by the immune system.

Two new studies are offering novel insights into celiac disease. One study is suggesting immune responses to gluten lead to neurological damage, while another offers hope for a cure demonstrating a nanoparticle treatment can induce immune tolerance.

A newly published longitudinal study out of Canada has found a strong association between frequent use of household cleaning products and an increased risk of children developing asthma in the first three years of life.

Ideally fighting cancer would be as simple as a vaccine, and scientists are taking steps towards that. Now, researchers have developed a way to make vaccine molecules bigger, so they don’t disperse in the blood stream before reaching their target.

As promising as immunotherapy is against cancer, these therapies aren’t entirely without risk. But now scientists have developed an emergency brake drug that can switch off the treatment if it begins to spiral out of control.

Some studies suggest anti-inflammatory drugs can slow wound healing and bone repair. New research reveals our natural circadian clocks play a major role in healing, and anti-inflammatory drugs may be more effective if taken in the morning.

Phase 2 human trial results have been published demonstrating the efficacy of an oral form of the influenza vaccine. The trial compared the pill to the most commonly used injectable flu vaccine and found it as safe and effective as its counterpart.

Breakthrough research from an international team of scientists has uncovered a new type of immune cell with the ability to target and kill most kinds of cancer cells, raising hopes for a universal cancer treatment.