Immune system

Latest news on immune system

Transplant first a giant leap for surgery

Doctors have successfully carried out the world's first airway transplant on a young woman using an organ partly grown from her own stem cells in a groundbreaking operation which scientists believe will transform the future of surgery.Surgeons replaced a section of Claudia Castillo's windpipe, that had been irreparably damaged by tuberculosis, with a donated organ that was stripped of its cells and used as a scaffold for her stem cells. Because Castillo's body recognises her own cells in the replacement organ she does not need to take powerful drugs to suppress her immune system, unlike all other transplant patients. The technique raises the prospect of transplants for patients whose organs are damaged by cancer, who then cannot take the drugs as they increase the risk of cancer returning.Professor Martin Birchall, from Bristol University, which carried out the stem cell engineering, said it would soon be possible to create a range of organs for transplants which patients' bodies will not reject. "In 20 years, this will be the most common form of surgery," he said.A paper published in the Lancet medical journal online today, describes a cutting-edge collaboration involving doctors in three countries: Spain, the UK and Italy. In the paper, the authors write: "We think this represents a milestone and hope it will unlock the door for a safe and recipient-tailored transplantation of the airway in adults and children. We hope that these future patients will no longer suffer the trauma of speech loss, severe shortness of breath and limited social activities."Castillo, 30, was referred to the Hospital Clinic, University of Barcelona, because TB had damaged her airways. The upper part of her windpipe was surgically repaired, but it was not possible to undo damage to the tube connecting the main windpipe to the left lung. Doctors rarely recommend a windpipe transplant because condemning a patient to a lifetime of immunosuppressant drugs - which makes them vulnerable to infections - is only thought worthwhile if it is the only way to save their life.The standard option for somebody like Castillo would have been removal of the left lung, which would have restored her health but probably shortened her life. Based on work done on animals, Professor Paolo Macchiarini offered her a procedure untried on humans. "We proposed tissue engineering to this lady," he said.A piece of windpipe was taken from a donor and treated to remove all cellular material that Castillo's body might reject. Stem cells were removed from her hip and cultivated by researchers from Bristol University until they were ready to develop into cartilage, which would grow around the outside of the trachea. More cells were taken from the mucous membrane around the tube linking her main windpipe to her right lung. These cells were treated by another Bristol team to be seeded on the inside of the new section of windpipe. Then scientists at Milan university constructed a bioreactor to foster the growth of the mucous membrane cells and the cartilage.The operation took place on June 12. Macchiarini said: "As I was operating, I asked myself am I doing the right thing. I was very much afraid." If things had gone wrong, Castillo knew her lung would have to be removed. But five months on, she is well and there is no sign of rejection of the transplant.A tailor-made effort involving top scientists in three countries is an expensive exercise, but the scientists are confident that costs will come down and that the technique will help thousands of people in years to come. Professor Anthony Hollander, from Bristol, said: "The trick is to develop ways of scaling up," he said.But the Barcelona hospital, said Macchiarini, had already made savings by no longer having to admit Castillo to intensive care twice a week at a cost of £3,000 a day, as it has done for the last three years.Birchall said about 270 UK patients could benefit from a tissue-engineered windpipe transplant operation. But he believes it will eventually be possible to use the technique for all kinds of transplants.Organ donationMedical researchHealthguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Marrow Transplant Cures AIDS Patient In Germany (AHN)

(AHN) - An American in Germany afflicted with leukemia and AIDS has been cured of the immune system disease after receiving a bone marrow transplant meant to cure his blood disease, his doctor claimed Thursday. - Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:56:56 GMT

To Your Health! Ten Immune System Foods

Some foods may help your immune system fight off a cold.

Drug reboots immune system to reverse MS

For the first time, a drug seems to have reversed nerve and brain damage from multiple sclerosis, raising hope for sufferers everywhere

Major step towards treating multiple sclerosis as trials show drug reverses effects of disease

Doctors yesterday hailed a major success in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, after trials revealed that a drug had halted and reversed the debilitating effects of the disease for the first time.The unprecedented results will boost the hopes of thousands of people in Britain in the early stages of the condition, which destroys the central nervous system.Existing medications, such as beta interferon, at best slow the disease, which causes the immune system mistakenly to attack fatty coatings around nerves that are needed to make sure signals are passed down them properly.Doctors at Cambridge University led a three-year trial of the drug, alemtuzumab, to compare its effectiveness against the market-leading beta interferon treatment. They recruited 334 patients with MS in their 20s and 30s, all of whom had experienced their first symptoms no more than three years ago.Patients who were given the new drug were 74% less likely to relapse and had a 71% lower risk of being disabled within three years. But most remarkably, those on the new treatment showed fewer signs of disability at the end of the trial than they began with.The drug is a synthetic antibody that was developed at Cambridge 30 years ago as a treatment for leukaemia. While it is now licensed as a treatment for chronic leukaemia, scientists suspected it might also benefit MS patients because it dampens down the immune system."For the first time we've shown definitely that treating people early on with this aggressive immunosuppression is a good thing and we can say people's disability improves. That's never been seen before and goes counter to everything we thought," said Alasdair Coles, a member of the Cambridge team, whose study appears in the New England Journal of Medicine."What is unprecedented and fascinating is that patients who take beta interferon have slowly shrinking brains as the disease attacks their brain tissue. We used MRI scans to show that patients who have alemtuzumab have enlarging brains as the lost tissue is restored. Somehow the drug is promoting brain repair," Coles added.In the trial, patients were given either a beta interferon injection three times a week for a year, or five days of alemtuzumab infusions followed by a three-day follow-up treatment a year later. The drug is now in a phase three clinical trial, which will be used to work out the best dosages. If the trial is a success, it could be licensed as early as 2010. For the drug to be approved, licensing bodies will have to be convinced that it can be used safely, but two major side-effects have been identified.When the drug is given, it appears to suppress the immune system by reducing white blood cells called lymphocytes, which are crucial for the body to fight infections. Although the patients in the trial did not suffer from a rise in infections, some did develop new immune disorders. The most common side-effect involved the immune system attacking the thyroid gland, which affected nearly 25% on the new drug. A few patients (2.8%) suffered an immune disorder which affected platelets in their bloodstream. One patient in the trial died of the condition. "Both of these conditions can be monitored and treated providing diagnosis is made quickly enough," said Coles."I'm sure this is the most effective way to treat MS and it's the best we'll see in terms of efficacy," he added. The trial intentionally focused on patients who were in the early stages of the disease. Longer-term patients are not expected to respond as well to the treatment.Despite the potential for serious side-effects, the trial was lauded as a major step towards treating the disease. In Britain about 100,000 people are affected by multiple sclerosis.Medical researchDrugsHealthguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Protein sculpture inspired by Vitruvian Man

Two years ago, I posted about artist and software designer Julian Voss-Andreae who sculpts protein molecules from a variety of materials and had written a HOWTO on his process. Julian has just completed his largest work and I think it's breathtaking. Titled "Angel of the West," the 12-foot tall metal sculpture will be installed next month at the Scripps Research Institute in Jupiter, Florida. He sent me an email with background on the piece: (Angel of the West) was inspired by the striking similarity of the human antibody molecule (the key molecule in our immune system) in proportion and function as well: It has 'arms' that grab on to viruses etc. with hand-like region that are highly variable and fit perfectly for each new intruder. My idea was to use the Leonardo man ('Vitruvian Man', 1490) in the circle, replace the man with the molecule (in my mitered cut technique) and use Leonardo's composition, extrapolated into 3d. To subtly strengthen that connection I made 'rays' under 'wings' that converge visually where the man's head would be. Julian Voss-Andreae's "Angel of the West" Previously on BB: ? HOWTO make a protein sculpture...

Therapy Helps More People Get New Kidneys

New efforts help the body outwit the immune system and reduce rejected organs.

Malaria Parasites Use "Cloaking Devices" to Trick Body

The parasites make themselves invisible to the human immune system via elaborate molecular "disguises," two new studies reveal.

If a person is sick, is there immune system weakened to ...

Posted on Sat 4 Oct 2008. Follow the link for the full question & answer.

Long-Term HIV Survivors Provide Key to Possible AIDS Vaccine

By studying the immune systems of people with natural resistance to HIV, scientists have discovered how their cells disarm the virus. The research could lead the way to an AIDS vaccine for the rest of the population.