News and Research
Strengthen Immune System
Part 4

The following are articles about research on factors that either weaken or strengthen the immune system:

Article 17: Sudden Removal Of Fat Impairs Immunity Function In Rodents, Biologists Find This study is the first to show that even a moderate loss of fat leads to decreased amounts of infection-fighting IgG antibodies. The study has implications for people concerned about how to boost their immune system...

Article 16: Bacterial Viruses Make Cheap Easy Vaccines Genetically altered bacterial viruses appear to be more effective than naked DNA in eliciting an immunity response and could be a new strategy for a next generation of vaccines that will boost the immune system...

Article 15: Scientists Discover How To Grow Cells That Suppress Immunity Responses Normally we are looking to build up the immune system. But sometimes we want to suppress some immunity reactions. Researchers have discovered how to grow T-regulatory cells type 1 (Tr1) which are thought to turn off unnecessary immunity reactions...

Article 14: New Role For Immunity Player May Help Improve Cancer Vaccines Researchers have discovered that a molecule best known for its anti-microbial properties also has the ability to activate key cells in the immune system. This may lead to new cancer vaccines and strategies to build up the immune system..

Article 13: New Approach To Replacing Immunity Cells Shrink Tumors In Patients With Melanoma The study demonstrates that immune response cells, activated in the laboratory against patients' tumors and then administered to those patients, can attack cancer cells in the body. What an awesome way to boost the immune system...

Article 12: Researchers Identify Protein That Regulates Killer Cells Researchers have identified a protein that plays a critical role in the regulation of "natural killers cells" in our immunity battle against foreign and diseased cells. This research is a small part of the larger search for how to improve the immune system...

Article 11: White Blood Cells Are Much More Active And Dynamic White blood cells are much more active and dynamic than previously assumed and show complex behaviors for responding to foreign bodies. The study gives new insight into the tactics used by T- and B-cells to fight disease and has implications for bolster the immune system...

Article 10: Researchers Identify A Key "Brake" Of The Immunity Response Sometimes physicians want to be able to turn off the immunity response, such as during bone marrow or organ transplants to prevent the host from rejecting the donor tissue. On the other hand, doctors would like to build up the immune system response against malignant cells and HIV-infected cells to help fight cancer and AIDS...

Article 9: Blood Stem Cells Carry Targeted Genes In a bold new move to strengthen the immune system, researchers have genetically altered human blood stem cells to selectively activate genes in developing immunity cells...

Article 8: Signals From Nervous System Influence Immunity, Study Shows In a discovery that demonstrates a clear link between the mind and body at a molecular level, scientists have shown that a chemical signal which normally allows nerve cells to communicate with each other can also re-direct actions of the immune system. We can utilize this information to boost the immune system...

Article 7: University Of Pittsburgh Researchers Define Precursors To Cells That Control The Immunity Response Precursors of epidermal Langerhans cells (LCs) reside in the skin and play a key role in the initiation and regulation of the immunity response throughout the body. Researchers may now be able to use these cells to build up the immune system response...

Article 6: Researchers Identify Pathogen-Specific Gene Response In Human Immunity Cells Using DNA microarray technology, researchers at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research have discovered that a type of human cell, known as a dendritic cell, initiates an immunity response that is tailor-made for specific infectious organisms. The researchers found that dendritic cells turn on different sets of genes, or a signature pattern of gene response, depending on whether the organism is a bacteria, virus, or fungus....

Article 5: Natural Immunity Response Reduces Nerve Damage; May Lead To Improved Treatment For Spinal Cord Injury Scientists show for the first time that damage to the central nervous system causes the body to mount an immunity reaction against itself that actually protects neurons from further damage. This may lead to insights into how to build up the immune system of those with spinal cord injury...

Article 4: Research Holds Hope For Understanding Recurrent Miscarriages, Helping Transplant And Cancer Patients A mother's immune system may attack a fetus from multiple fronts, by sending in killer T-cells, by producing antibodies that target fetal cells or by coating cells with a destructive, soluble blood factor called complement. Hopefully we can understand how to make the immune system stronger in all patients and avoid attacks where they are not wanted...

Article 3: Immunity Proteins Play Role In Brain Development And Remodeling; Discovery Suggests New Theory For Dyslexia, Parkinson's Disease And Multiple Sclerosis Two immunity proteins found in the brains of mice help the brain develop and may play key roles in triggering developmental disorders like dyslexia and neurodegenerative disorders like Parkinson's Disease, according to a Harvard Medical School study...

Article 2: University Of Iowa Researchers Investigate Regulation Of Immunity Memory If a person's immune system successfully fights off an infection, not only does that person recover, but they also acquire immunity against re-infection by that same pathogen. The ability of the body to remember pathogens it has already defeated, and to respond rapidly and effectively to them during future exposures, is the basis of vaccination strategies...

Article 1: Strengthen Immune System: Promiscuity May Be One Way Evolution Has Found To Do This, A Study Suggests What a strange way to build immunity - this study indicates that the evolution of immunity in a species may be directly linked to the sexual activity of that species. A comparative analysis of 41 primate species demonstrates that the most promiscuous species have naturally higher white blood cell (WBC) counts -- the first line of defense against infectious disease -- than more monogamous species...