Researchers are finding new details on the complex dynamics involved in how organisms sense an infection from pathogens. The researchers found that worms can sense changes in their metabolism in order to unleash protective defenses, even if they don t directly sense an incursion from pathogens.
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Despite a daunting more than 130 million cases of SARS-CoV-2 infections to date worldwide, another global pathogen - the Aedes mosquito-borne dengue virus - saw a record number of over 400 million cases in 2019. But vaccine development has been challenging due to the need to protect equally against all four dengue strains. The discovery of new possible biomarkers to predict clinical and immune responses to dengue virus infection, published today in
Nature Communication, could be critical to informing future vaccines.
As with SARS-CoV-2 infection, the effects of dengue virus infection can range from asymptomatic to severe disease that can be fatal. Climate change has expanded the viruses geographic distribution far beyond tropical areas like Southeast Asia and Latin America to the southern U.S. and Europe. Only one vaccine, Dengvaxia, has been approved for a subset of at-risk individuals in endemic areas.
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Months after recovering from mild cases of COVID-19, people still have immune cells in their body pumping out antibodies against the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a study from researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Such cells could persist for a lifetime, churning out antibodies all the while.
The findings, published May 24 in the journal
Nature, suggest that mild cases of COVID-19 leave those infected with lasting antibody protection and that repeated bouts of illness are likely to be uncommon. Last fall, there were reports that antibodies wane quickly after infection with the virus that causes COVID-19, and mainstream media interpreted that to mean that immunity was not long-lived, said senior author Ali Ellebedy, PhD, an associate professor of pathology & immunology, of medicine and of molecular microbiology. But that s a misinterpretation of the data. It s normal for antibody levels to go down after acute infection, but t
Trinity College Dublin and St James s Hospital, Dublin clinical trials reported efficacy and safety results of upadacitinib compared with placebo for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in adults and adolescents. This pivotal Global Phase 3 study involved 1,600 patients and took place over a two-year period. Results show the drug to so far be the most effective treatment for atopic dermatitis in clinical trials.
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IMAGE: SARS-CoV-2 replication is suppressed by RIG-I. When pulmonary cells that do not express RIG-I (left) are exposed to SARS-CoV-2, viral spike proteins (green) are detected as soon as 5 days. view more
Credit: Taisho Yamada, et al. Nature Immunology. May 11, 2021
Scientists from Hokkaido University have discovered a novel defensive response to SARS-CoV-2 that involves the viral pattern recognition receptor RIG-I. Upregulating expression of this protein could strengthen the immune response in COPD patients.
In the 18 months since the first report of COVID-19 and the spread of the pandemic, there has been a large amount of research into understanding it and developing menas to treat it. COVID-19 does not affect all infected individuals equally. Many individuals are asymptomatic; of those who are symptomatic, the large majority have mild symptoms, and only a small number have severe cases. The reasons for this are not fully understood and are an important are