immune system tagged posts

Twenty-four h post-exposure change of heart rate variability (HRV) associated with PM2.5, and the intervention effect of B vitamin supplementation.

B vitamins can mitigate the impact of fine particle pollution on cardiovascular disease, according to new research at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Healthy non-smokers who took vitamin B supplements nearly reversed any negative effects on their cardiovascular and immune systems, weakening the effects of air pollution on heart rate by 150%, total white blood count by 139%, and lymphocyte count by 106%.

The study initiates a course of research for developing preventive pharmacological interventions using B vitamins to contain the health effects of air pollution...

Regulation of type I interferon responses

Scientists have discovered that a biological molecule important in cell growth (STAT3) is also critical in protecting us against infection – so much so that we would be unable to fight the common flu virus without it. Their discovery could pave the way to the development of new therapeutics charged with restoring our natural immunity to a whole spectrum of viruses that have evolved ‘roadblocks’ to the immune response. In a world of newly emerging viral infections such as SARS, ZIKA and Ebola, the importance of understanding how viruses target our immune system, and the need to develop new therapies to cure and protect us, has never been greater.

During any viral infection our cells produce Interferon, which essentially ‘interferes’ with the battle ...

University of Virginia School of Medicine researchers have determined that the immune system directly affects and even controls, creatures’ social behavior, such as their desire to interact with others. So could immune system problems contribute to an inability to have normal social interactions? The answer appears to be yes, and could have great implications for neurological conditions eg autism-spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.

“The brain and the adaptive immune system were thought to be isolated from each other, and any immune activity in the brain was perceived as sign of a pathology. And now, not only are we showing that they are closely interacting, but some of our behavior traits might have evolved because of our immune response to pathogens,” explained Jonathan Kipnis, PhD...

Dr. Axel Kallies, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Credit: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

Researchers have uncovered the genes responsible for the way the body fights infection at the point of ‘invasion’. Hobit and Blimp1 have been found and these transcription factors control a universal molecular program responsible for placing immune cells at the ‘front lines’ of the body to fight infection and cancer. The presence of these organ-residing cells, which differ strikingly from their counterparts circulating in the blood stream, is key to local protection against viruses and bacteria.

Identifying how immune cells remain in the part of the body where they are needed most was critical to developing better ways to protect us from infections such as malaria or HIV...