Preterm birth is a major cause of neonatal illness and death, especially among women with a history of premature delivery. Researchers in Japan explored whether taking probiotics early in pregnancy could help reduce the risk of spontaneous preterm delivery (sPTD). In a multicenter clinical trial, women who consumed probiotics containing Clostridium butyricum showed lower recurrence … Read more
Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming response to an infection. It occurs when the immune system overreacts and damages the body’s own organs and tissues. Sepsis is life-threatening, yet about 1.9 million people in the United States survive it each year. More than half of sepsis-survivors face long-term complications such as problems with memory and thinking, … Read more
A new study from the Kwon Lab at the Ragon Institute, published in Cell Host & Microbe, provides the most detailed picture yet of how a promising bacterial therapy works to prevent recurrent bacterial vaginosis (BV) and why it works better for some women than others. BV is the most common vaginal condition worldwide, affecting more than 25% … Read more
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating neurological disorder caused by malfunctioning immune responses that target the brain and spinal cord of the central nervous system (CNS). What makes our body turn against itself? Failure of the immune system to distinguish ‘self’ from ‘non-self’ entities leads to excessive autoimmune responses against self-proteins like myelin, which forms … Read more
In aggressive lymphomas, inflammatory messengers reprogram the “conductors” of the immune system, causing lymph nodes structure to collapse. A team led by Simon Haas describes in “Nature Cancer” this process for the first time using single-cell and spatial analyses. Lymph nodes are highly organized command centers of the immune system. Within these structures, immune cells … Read more
New research suggests that vitamin D supplements can reshape how the immune system responds to gut bacteria in patients with inflammatory bowel disease, potentially nudging the body toward a more protective, less inflammatory state. The findings offer early clues toward therapies that restore immune tolerance rather than simply suppress symptoms. Gubatan et al. demonstrate that … Read more
Vitamin D supplementation may help shape how the immune system responds to gut bacteria in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a Mayo Clinic–led study published in Cell Reports Medicine. The findings offer new insight into how the immune system and gut microbiome interact in this chronic condition and point to potential new therapeutic strategies. IBD, which includes … Read more
People with a healthy thymus gland live longer and are less likely to fall ill. In addition, immunotherapies are more often successful in patients with a healthy thymus. This is shown by two international studies involving Universitätsmedizin Frankfurt. The results, now published in the journal Nature, open up new approaches to maintaining health during the … Read more
In a paradigm breaking study, Dr. Pavan Reddy, director of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and his team, in collaboration with Drs. Arul Chinnaiyan, S P Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology, and Marcin Cieslik, assistant professor of pathology, both from University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, discovered … Read more
Australian researchers have uncovered a critical mechanism driving the growth and spread of glioblastoma – one of the most aggressive and lethal forms of brain cancer – potentially paving the way for more effective treatments. In a new study led by Adelaide University scientists from the Centre for Cancer Biology (CCB), researchers identified a previously … Read more