It often starts with restless sleep. Mobility, swallowing, and speaking disorders are also typical. Yet a range of other symptoms make it difficult to diagnose anti-IgLON5 disease. Left untreated, this rare autoimmune disease leads to severe disabiliti…
The itching, redness and swelling of an allergic reaction are caused by mast cells—the vigilant first responders of the immune system that spring into action with histamine-filled granules in response to a perceived threat.
Researchers led by the University of Geneva and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne report that neural anticipation of virtual infection triggers an immune response through activation of innate lymphoid cells.
Adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia (ALSP) is a progressive neurological disease with an average age of onset at 43 years and an average life expectancy of only three to five years after symptoms begin. ALSP is caus…
Infections in the brain can have serious consequences and are often fatal. The immune defense system works differently here than in the rest of the body. A team of researchers at TWINCORE—Center for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research in Hanov…
When ocrelizumab became the first FDA-approved treatment for early forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2017, it offered patients immense hope. The long-awaited drug is a monoclonal antibody that depletes B cells—the immune cells that drive MS progressi…
Instead of using a patient’s own bone or titanium to repair skull fractures, researchers are working on using artificial materials. New research—surprisingly—shows that the body’s immune system helps strengthen artificial materials.
A team of physicians from Bochum are the first to successfully use CAR T-cell therapy to treat two patients with a rare autoimmune disease of the peripheral nervous system. This treatment modifies endogenous immune cells such that they can specifically…
Stroke remains one of the leading causes of death, disability, increased economic burden and decreased quality of life around the world. Current stroke therapies are time-limited and largely focused on restoring blood flow, and there are few which add…
Microglia are a specialized type of immune cell that accounts for about 10% of all cells within the brain and spinal cord. They function by eliminating infectious microbes, dead cells, and aggregated proteins, as well as soluble antigens that may endan…
