The Immune System

A new study, from the NIH, examining data from more than three million people suggests reinfection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is still quite rare. However, it is unclear how long this natural protection may last.

Inflammatory bowel diseases, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, are unpleasant, chronic conditions with few treatment options. Now, researchers may have found a way to potentially “switch on” the body’s natural tissue repair system.

Just as pathogens evolve new tricks to evade our body’s safeguards and cause infection, our immune system can also develop new tricks that keep these nasty invaders at bay. New research has revealed an interesting example of this.

Eli Lilly has announced its antibody treatment can reduce a person’s risk of contracting COVID-19 by up to 80 percent. These preliminary results suggest the treatment may be an effective way to rapidly suppress outbreaks in unvaccinated communities.

A new study describes one way immune cells become dysfunctional as we age, leading to the inflammatory hyperdrive that plays a role in most age-related disease from cancer to cognitive decline, and suggests this immune dysfunction can be reversed.

A new study has affirmed men seem much more vulnerable to COVID-19 than women. The study found men, independent of age, are more likely to contract the virus, suffer from severe complications, and die from the disease compared to women.

Early findings from a clinical trial suggest severely ill COVID-19 patients do not benefit from a therapy involving infusions of plasma from those recovered from the disease. The trial continues to investigate the therapy in moderately ill patients.

A first-of-its-kind study has found a link between COVID-19 severity and the gut microbiome. The research suggests specific microbial patterns correlate with disease severity and those bacterial imbalances may account for some cases of “long COVID”.

New research suggests e-cigarette vapor alone, free of nicotine or flavoring, can trigger gut inflammation. Across a series of experiments the study demonstrated how e-cigarette vapor can weaken the gut’s lining and lead to chronic inflammation.

CAR T cell immunotherapy is a promising cancer treatment that supercharges natural tumor-hunting cells, but it can backfire with potentially deadly results. Now, scientists have engineered off switches for these immune cells.

Health authorities in the UK have recommended extending dosing schedules for COVID-19 vaccines, claiming one dose offers short-term protection despite trials only testing two-dose regimes. US authorities call the change risky and unproven.

Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory bowel condition triggered by an overactive immune system. Now researchers have developed a new kind of immunotherapy for Crohn’s that delivers a “triple punch” by tweaking the responses of different immune cells.