Vaccination: Why don’t we all experience the same side effects?
Redness and pain at the injection site, fever, fatigue or headaches: Vaccines can cause side effects, but their frequency and severity vary considerably from person to person. Why?
Medical Xpress
Early changes in the tumor environment may explain why immunotherapy works for some patients but not others
Two patients receive the same immunotherapy for the same cancer. In one, the tumor retreats and stays gone for years. In the other, the treatment does nothing. Oncologists still have no reliable way to tell these patients apart before therapy begins. W…
CAAR T-cell therapy offers a more targeted route for neurological autoimmune diseases
Researchers at DZNE and Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin are working on a targeted therapy for neurological autoimmune diseases. So far, they have successfully tested their approach in mouse studies involving two such conditions. Their concept is bas…
Why an overactive immune system attacks the bodies of people with lupus but still leaves them vulnerable to infection
Despite having an overactive immune system, people with lupus may still struggle to fight bacterial infections. My team and I found that this paradox may result from chronic inflammation pushing their immune cells toward the wrong kind of response.
Epstein-Barr virus activity may foreshadow multiple sclerosis attacks
A new study illuminates the connection between the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and multiple sclerosis (MS), pointing to a causal role for reactivation of the virus in triggering MS attacks in people with certain genetic risk factors.
New method explores how mitochondrial tRNA changes can reshape immune cell behavior
For generations, scientists have looked to the genetics inside immune cells for ways to improve how the body fights disease.
Experimental cancer vaccine makes its own oxygen and gives T-cells a boost
When it comes to priorities in life, oxygen tops the list. Humans can go weeks without food and days without water. Take away the ability to breathe, however, and the clock starts ticking within minutes as the brain begins shutting down. But the life-g…
Modified BCG vaccine strengthens protection against TB
Researchers from the Centenary Institute and the University of Sydney have developed a modified version of the tuberculosis (TB) vaccine BCG that provided stronger and more sustained protection against TB. In preclinical tests in mice, the modified vac…
Blood protein linked to lower risk of depression and PTSD after traumatic brain injury
Every year, an estimated 20 million people worldwide sustain a concussion or other traumatic brain injury (TBI), which leads to a two- to fourfold increase in the risk of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet not everyone w…
Fifty years after IL-2 discovery, researchers reflect on how it has transformed medicine
A discovery made 50 years ago helped establish the field of human retrovirology, advance understanding of the human immune system and contribute to a revolution in cancer treatment. A new perspective in Science examines that history, beginning with the…