Feature Channels: Autoimmune Diseases

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Wistar is part of global, women-led team awarded MRA grant to fund collaborative melanoma research

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The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum hijacks an immune system process to invade red blood cells, according to a study led by researchers at Penn State College of Medicine. Understanding how malaria invades the cells could lead to a more effective vaccine.

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Combining radiation treatments with a new generation of immunotherapies is showing promise as a one-two-punch against melanoma, Loyola Medicine researchers report in a review article in the Journal of Radiation Oncology.

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U.S. Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan) has recognized AARDA's 25th anniversary in The Congressional Record, praising the organization for its longstanding and tireless work on behalf of autoimmune disease patients everywhere.

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Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have identified an enzyme that is significantly elevated in mouse models of systemic lupus erythematosus and in blood samples of patients with lupus. Published online today in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, the new findings demonstrate that inhibition of the SHP-2 enzyme can significantly diminish lupus symptoms – including skin lesions, enlarged spleen and kidney failure – and suggest that development of a SHP-2 inhibitor drug could offer a new therapeutic approach for this often debilitating disease.

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Details about Vasculitis Awareness Month. This year's theme is, "Victory over Vasculitis", and the Vasculitis Foundation will use the month of May to raise awareness about this rare, autoimmune disease.

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Diagnosing Mononucleosis, Need for Health Interventions for Single Parent Households in Urban Subsidized Housing Programs, Inadequate Financial Savings Tied to Increased Childhood Health Risks, and more in the Public Health News Source

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The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) hosted its 16th Annual Derby Luncheon and Auction on Saturday, May 7 at MacRay Harbor on Lake St. Clair in Harrison Township. The Derby also commemorated AARDA’s 25th anniversary.

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A protein called Bim may hold the clue to which patients may be successful on immunotherapy for metastatic melanoma, according to the results of a study by Mayo Clinic researchers led by senior author Haidong Dong, M.D., Ph.D., and published online in the May 5 edition of JCI Insight.

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Myositis is a rare, autoimmune disease affecting 50,000 people in the U.S. Average time to diagnosis is more than three years and five doctors' visits. Advocates hope that better information will avoid this costly and potentially fatal delay.

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When It Comes to Spring Allergies, Oak Pollen More Potent Than Pine; Food Allergies of Low-Income Kids Are Poorly Managed; Flowers Not to Blame for Allergies, and More in the Allergies Channel

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Sjogren's syndrome affects an estimated four million people in the U.S., but diagnosis is often delayed because its symptoms are similar to other conditions. A new study in the American Journal of Physiology—Cell Physiology describes a protein with the potential to be an earlier and more precise indicator of the disease.

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Exposure to pathogens early in life is beneficial to the education and development of the human immune system.

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Pinellas County a Model for Mosquito-Borne Disease Surveillance, Scientists Unravel the Genetic Evolution of Zika Virus, Worm Infection Counters Inflammatory Bowel Disease and more in the Infectious Diseases News Source

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The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) announced its April Autoimmune Heroes – the countless volunteers who have supported AARDA and its mission, with special recognition to 10 individuals who have served continuously for roughly 20-plus years.

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A multi-institutional study led by a Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) investigator finds significant racial disparities in the risk that patients being treated for gout will develop a serious, sometimes life-threatening adverse reaction to the most commonly prescribed medication.

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The ACR has issued an official statement regarding the FDA's approval of Inflectra (infliximab-dyyb), a biosimilar to Remicade. Inflectra is the first biosimilar to receive approval in the U.S. for the treatment of rheumatic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis.

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First Honorees Include Actress Kellie Martin and Actress Haley Ramm and her mother Barbara Ramm for their Work in Public Education and Awareness.

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AARDA continues its 25th Anniversary celebration with the launch of its yearlong Autoimmune Heroes campaign, naming actress Kellie Martin and actress Haley Ramm and her mother, Barbara Ramm, as the first #AutoimmuneHeroes for their support of autoimmune disease awareness.

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Nonprofit NGO is Voice of 50 Million+ Americans with Autoimmune Diseases

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Despite chronic inflammation and an elevated risk of heart disease, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are not at increased risk for cardiovascular complications or death after surgery, compared to patients with similar characteristics without RA, reports a study in Anesthesia & Analgesia.

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Scientists from The Scripps Research Institute have identified a molecule that appears to be a cause of autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Elevated levels of the molecule allow self-reactive immune cells to escape into the blood stream and attack the body’s own tissues.

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Walking with a wearable robotic exoskeleton may enable people with multiple sclerosis to walk more efficiently by reducing the energy and muscle activity needed to walk, according to research presented this week at the Association for Academic Physiatrists Annual Meeting in Sacramento, Calif.

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Each of our cells has a time to die. Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, helps keep our bodies healthy by ensuring that excess or potentially dangerous cells self-destruct. One way cells know when to pull the plug is through signals received by so-called death receptors that stud cells’ surfaces. Researchers studying a death receptor called Fas have now found that for immune cells to hear the death knell, a largely overlooked portion of the receptor must coil into an intricate three-part formation.

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An international coalition of researchers led by Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation scientist Swapan Nath, Ph.D., has identified 10 new genes associated with the autoimmune disease lupus. The findings were published in the Jan. 25 issue of Nature Genetics.

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A new study led by scientists at The Scripps Research Institute shows how dangerous autoimmune responses, seen in diseases such as lupus and multiple sclerosis, might be “dialed down” without compromising the immune system’s ability to fight viruses and bacteria.

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Plasma cells play a key role in our immune system. Now scientists at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology (IMP) in Vienna, Austria, and at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) in Melbourne, Australia, succeeded in characterizing a central regulator of plasma cell function. The results of both teams are published in two back-to-back papers in “Nature Immunology” today.

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A new study from the Medical Research Council Lifecourse Epidemiology Unit, University of Southampton, shows lesions, which can best be seen on MRI scans, could help identify individuals who are more likely to suffer from more rapidly progressing osteoarthritis.

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Researchers in Israel and Germany have identified a link between the increased use of processed foods and the rise in the incidence of autoimmune diseases.

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University of Georgia research has found that inorganic mercury, which was previously thought to be a less harmful form of the toxic metal, is very damaging to key cell processes.

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Diseases such as lupus that cause rashes and other skin problems also can trigger migraine headaches, strokes and other serious neurological conditions, according to an article by Loyola University Medical Center physicians.

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Biomedical researchers have suspected that a specific set of immune cells are responsible for causing disease in late-stage lupus patients, but until now they haven’t known for sure. An immunologist has found that these cells do not, in fact, contribute to late-stage lupus in mice.

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Nephrologists at Texas Tech University Health Science Center (TTUHSC) El Paso have been invited to participate in a national consortium that’s investigating the key causes of lupus nephritis — an autoimmune disease that can cause kidney failure.

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A drug approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis, tocilizumab, yielded favorable results as a potential new therapy for patients with polymyalgia rheumatica in an open-label, phase II study at Hospital for Special Surgery.

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Researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery have identified multiple clinical and biologic markers that correlate with adverse pregnancies, including, most recently, the activation of complement, a series of proteins that protect us from invading microbes.

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Rheumatoid arthritis patients are twice as likely as the average person to develop heart disease, but a new study shows that efforts to prevent heart problems and diagnose and treat heart disease early may be paying off. Despite the heightened danger, deaths from cardiovascular disease among people with rheumatoid arthritis are declining, the research found. The study was among Mayo Clinic research being presented at the American College of Rheumatology’s annual meeting in San Francisco.

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People with well-controlled rheumatoid arthritis who change anti-TNF inhibitors due to non-medical reasons — such as increased copay, change of insurance, job loss, or other economic factors — are at a higher risk to develop increased symptoms and higher disease activity as well as an increased utilization of health care resource use, according to new research findings presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

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Injections of corticosteroids in the knee joints appear to be safe, but not effective, according to the findings of a two-year clinical trial presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

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A new study, presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Francisco, shows that treating rheumatoid arthritis patients toward a target of remission or low disease activity works immediately and leads to higher remission rates.

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Being overweight or obese can reduce the likelihood of achieving sustained remission of early rheumatoid arthritis, according to new research findings presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

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A study at Hospital for Special Surgery finds that a support group addressing the psychological and educational needs of people with lupus is a valuable resource to help them cope with the disease.

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Multiple sclerosis, a debilitating neurological disease, is triggered by self-reactive T cells that successfully infiltrate the brain and spinal cord where they launch an aggressive autoimmune attack against myelin, the fatty substance that surrounds and insulates nerve fibers. In their latest study, published in the Nov. 2, 2015, advance online issue of Nature Immunology, researchers at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology report that these disease-causing autoimmune T cells are lured into the nervous system by monocytes and macrophages, a subset of immune cells better known as the immune system’s cleanup crew.

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Twenty-five rheumatology state societies, multiple Area Health Education Centers, Arthritis Foundation chapters and the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors have already committed to participate in the immediate effort to implement Lupus education in their local communities and provider networks.

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Activating an enzyme that sounds an alarm for the body’s innate immune system causes two lethal autoimmune diseases in mice, while inhibiting the same enzyme rescues them, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers report.

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Hematology researchers have safely and effectively treated children and young adults for autoimmune blood disorders in a multicenter clinical trial. Patients had a durable, complete response in one of those conditions, called ALPS.