In a discovery that overturns decades of textbook teaching, researchers at the University of Virginia School of Medicine have determined that the brain is directly connected to the immune system by vessels previously thought not to exist. That these vessels could have escaped detection when the lymphatic system has been so thoroughly mapped throughout the […]
After a chance observation in the lab, Stanford researchers have identified a method that forces human leukemia cells to mature into harmless immune cells known as macrophages. The work is described in a paper that will be published in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Ravi Majeti, senior author of the paper, said the […]
Medical researchers from the Universita degli Studi di Milano (Italy) say that exposure to marijuana during adolescence can seriously affect immune system development, leading to autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases in adulthood. Reporting their findings in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, the researchers say teenage marijuana use could be a risk factor for diseases such […]
Scientists have established a connection between two diseases that aren’t commonly linked: allergy and cancer. The new research, published in the The Journal of Leukocyte Biology, shows that antihistamines appear to have “significant” anti-cancer properties. Specifically, antihistamines were found to interfere with the activity of myeloid derived suppressor cells, which are known to reduce the […]
Catching a cold or the flu, which leads to inflammation in the brain, impairs our ability to form spatial memories. That’s according to researchers from the Brighton and Sussex Medical School (UK) who have been studying how brain chemistry changes with inflammation and the resulting effects on cognition. They say the impairment results from a […]
New research appearing in The Journal of Neuroscience shows that during prolonged stress, cells from the immune system are recruited to the brain and promote symptoms of anxiety. The findings, from experiments with mice, offer a new explanation of how stress can lead to mood disorders. They also identify a subset of immune cells, called […]
Duke University scientists have discovered how breast milk, but not infant formula, fosters colonies of microbiotic flora in a newborn’s intestinal tract that aid nutrient absorption and immune system development. The new findings add to existing evidence showing how mother’s milk protects infants from infections and illnesses. In the new study, appearing in Current Nutrition […]
An Australian teenager who received a liver transplant has astonished medical experts by taking on her donor’s immune system. Writing inThe New England Journal of Medicine, doctors from Sydney’s Westmead Children’s Hospital reported that the teenager’s blood group had changed to the donor’s blood type. Other tests revealed the stem cells from the donor liver […]
What ornithologists previously considered to be a male bird’s decorative plumage, has instead been found to have a far deeper significance in the case of the Collared Flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) bird. Female birds were known to pick their mate based on the size of a spot on the male’s forehead, but instead of merely being […]
The suppression of the human immune system in space was first observed forty years ago during the Apollo missions when more than half the astronauts reported a bacterial or viral infection either during or shortly after their mission. To further study the effects of micro-gravity on the immune system, a shuttle flight in 1991 carried […]
