Immunotherapy Weekly articles from December 1999

Immunotherapy Weekly archives from December 1999

Fungal Allergens Cultivated for Immunotherapy.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers from India optimized culture techniques for growing the fungus Curvularia lunata for making raw material for immunotherapy protocols. "Despite enormous efforts toward the standardization of fungal...

Intravenous Immunoglobulin G Reduces Alloreactivity.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- by Cathy Clark, Senior Editor -- Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) may be better than plasmapheresis as an immunomodulatory treatment for cardiac transplant patients. Recipients of left ventricular assist...

Salivary Gland Immunization Elicits Specific Antibodies.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) Targeted salivary gland (TSG) immunization may provide protection against infection by oral and pharyngeal pathogens that may invade local, mucosal surfaces, researchers from Japan report. Shigetada Kawabata and...

Free-Base Oral Preparation is Superior for New Hepatitis Agent.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- A free-base oral delivery system appears to be superior to salt for the preparation of the experimental hepatitis agent R-848. R-848, an imidazoquinoline immune response modifier, is a oral candidate for the...

Chemokines: Molecular Targets for Therapeutic Intervention.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Chemokine agonists may help regulate disease, suggest a study from the United States. "Despite the youth of the chemokine field, many antagonists of chemokine function have already been identified and tested at...

T-Cell Repertoire May Have Prognostic Significance.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Analysis of the T-cell repertoire in the cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) at the initial presentation of multiple sclerosis may have prognostic significance, researchers from Australia report. "There have been many...

Therapy Combines Hyperthermia, Chemo-, and Immunotherapy.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Researchers from Italy are working to improve the therapeutic effectiveness of treatment of soft tissue limb sarcoma by combining hyperthermic antiblastic perfusion (HAP), the association of recombinant tumor...

Tumor-Cell Clearance Visualized in Living Animals.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Using bioluminescence, researchers from the United States were able to evaluate the results of chemo- and immunotherapy in a murine model. "Evaluation of potential antineoplastic therapies would be enhanced by...

Immune CD8(+) T Cells Prevent Reactivation of T. gondii.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) Immune CD8(+) T cells can be used to prevent reactivation of Toxoplasma gondii infection in immunosuppressed patients, researchers from the United States suggest. T. gondii infection is a serious cause of...

Immunosuppression Linked to T-Cell Function.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Tuberculosis immunosuppression appears to be related to a primary abnormality in T-cell function, a study from Ohio's Case Western University suggests. Researcher C.S.Hirsch and colleagues evaluated...

Post-Exposure Therapy May Boost Natural Immunity.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- People who experience flu-like symptoms within several weeks of being exposed to HIV could prevent the disease from progressing by beginning highly active antiretroviral therapies (HAART) immediately. Early...

Separation Procedure Reduces Platelet Contamination of DCs.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Collection procedure helps German researchers reduce platelet contamination in mononuclear cells intended for adoptive immunotherapy. A. Glaser and colleagues from the University Erlangen-Nuernberg, Germany,...

IL-4 Gene Transfer Reduces Inflammation in Rat Model.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Interleukin-4 (IL-4) gene transfer reduces inflammation in a rat model of adjuvant-induced arthritis (AIA). James M. Woods and colleagues from the United States and Japan tested whether IL-4 delivered by...

Pentoxifylline Reduces Disease Severity in Rats.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Pentoxifylline (PTX) has immunosuppressive properties and may be useful against autoimmune glomerulonephritis, suggest researchers from Poland. A. Wystrychowski and colleagues from the Silesian University...

Topical Antihistamine Demonstrates Effectiveness.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Results of a randomized, double-blind clinical trial, released at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Meeting, demonstrated that Astelin(R) (azelestine HCl) Nasal Spray, 137 mcg,...

Gene Transfer Prolongs Allograft Survival.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- CTLA4Ig gene transfer prolongs allograft survival by inducing donor specific unresponsiveness, report researchers from Italy. In theory, gene therapy would be the most attractive way to deliver therapeutic...

CEL-SCI Starts Cancer Vaccine Collaboration in Germany.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Cel-Sci Corp. announced that it has entered a research collaboration with Drs. Iduna Fichtner and Gabriele Pecher at the Max-Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin, Germany. This agreement marks the...

Collaboration Announced To Develop Seasonal Allergy Treatments.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Dynavax Technologies Corporation and Stallergenes S.A. announced the signing of an agreement to develop treatments for seasonal allergies in Europe using Dynavax's proprietary immunostimulatory oligonucleotide...

P&U Diagnostics Signs Agreement with German Company.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Pharmacia & Upjohn Diagnostics AB announced that the company has signed an agreement with Allergopharma Joachim Ganzer KG. The agreement gives Allergopharma the option to acquire a co-exclusive right for the...

Role of Protein in Atherosclerosis Supports Vaccine.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- New research demonstrates that the cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) can promote atherosclerosis, thus supporting the novel vaccine approach to preventing or treating that disease now under development by...

Enrollment Complete for Phase I/II Immunotherapy Trial.
December 13, 1999... 1999 DEC 13 - (NewsRx.com) -- Inflammatics, Inc., a private biotechnology company headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, announced that it had completed the enrollment of its Phase I/II trial for rheumatoid arthritis, using its lead drug...

Anti-T-Cell Strategies Are Novel Asthma Therapeutic.
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- Preliminary studies of T-cell peptide specific immunotherapy for asthma are promising, suggests research from England. "Chronic asthma is characterized by inflammation of the airways," stated O.M. Kon and...

CD8 Cells Exposed to CD80 and CD86 Molecules Suppress HIV.
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- Recent findings may provide a possible therapeutic approach to increase CD8(+) cell anti-HIV response, according to researchers in the United States. CD8(+) cells activated in the presence of autologous...

Synthetic Oligodeoxynucleotides Provide Protection.(against bacterial infections)
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) Repeated administration of synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) expressing CpG motif can provide long-term protection against bacterial infection, researchers from the United States report. Previous research...

HLA-G Implicated in Tumor Escape from Immunosurveillance.
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- HLA-G is a tolerance antigen which may be responsible for a tumor's ability to escape from host immunosurveillance, researchers from France suggest. "To define rational anti-tumor immunotherapy strategies, the...

Combination Therapy Backfires in Clinical Trial.(granulocyte/macrophage-colony-stimulating factor and interleukin-2 with monoclonal antibody mAb 17-1A)
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- Combining granulocyte/macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin (IL)-2 with monoclonal antibody mAb17-1A hampered, not enhanced, the clinical effect of the antibody in patients with colorectal...

Potent Natural Anti-Inflammatory Agent Identified.(thymosin beta-n4 sulphoxide)
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- Scientists have identified a potent naturally-produced anti-inflammatory agent that could lead to novel methods for the treatment of a range of chronic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis and other...

Gene-Trapping Strategies May Aid Drug Research.
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- Genome-wide gene-trapping strategies may prove to be valuable assays for drug research. "With sequence analysis of the human genome well underway, there is an increasingly urgent challenge to understand the...

Key Phase of Human Immune Response Seen.
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- The first detailed pictures of key immune system cells locked onto fragments of a foreign substance provide new clues about how the immune system identifies enemy threats and may even lead to a novel way of...

Complement Promotes Antigen Trapping.
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- Complement is necessary for protective T-cell-independent activation of neutralizing cells, according to researchers in Switzerland. Complement is part of the innate immune system and one of the first lines of...

New Tool Provides Major Advance in Understanding.(Lyme disease diagnostic technique)
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- One of the most frustrating puzzles of Lyme disease is why some people develop debilitating chronic complications despite receiving recommended treatment. Now scientists have developed a new method to explore...

Researchers Discover New Target Antigen.(STEAP shows promise in prostate cancer treatment)
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- UroGenesys, Inc. reports the discovery of a novel gene that provides a promising route for developing new therapies to treat prostate cancer. The studies, published in the December 6, 1999, issue of...

Efficacy of Infliximab Highlighted.
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- In a report published in the December 4, 1999, issue of The Lancet, Ravinder Maini and colleagues from The Mathilda and Terence Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, London, United Kingdom, highlight the efficacy of...

Company Announces Preliminary Results from Phase I/II Trial.(Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals Inc.)
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, Inc., San Diego, California, reports preliminary results from the first 13 patients treated with HE2000 in a Phase I/II HIV trial in South Africa. In this study, HE2000 administered...

RAGE-1 Pulsed Dendritic Cells Stimulate Anti-Cancer Response.
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- Autologous mature dendritic cells (DCs) pulsed with a RAGE-1 HLA-B7 peptide induced anti-cancer responses in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). E. Ranieri and colleagues from institutions in the United...

Patient-Specific Dosimetry Is Worth the Effort.(in anti CD-20 radioimmunotherapy for cancer therapy)
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- Patient-specific dosimetry in anti CD-20 radioimmunotherapy for cancer treatment helps clinicians deliver a more accurate dose of radiolabelled antibodies than does standard doses based on patient weight or body...

Rapid Data Acquisition Allows for More Accurate Dosing.(in radioimmunotherapy)
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- Rapid data acquisition methods for I-131 anti-B1 radioimmunotherapy (RIT) treatment planning allows for more accurate and patient-specific dosing, reports researchers from the United States. "RIT with I-131...

Draft Guidelines for Stem Cell Research Published.
December 27, 1999... 1999 DEC 27 - (NewsRx.com) -- The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has published in the Federal Register its draft guidelines for research involving human pluripotent stem cells. The draft guidelines recommend procedures to help...