Search
Neutrophils are the most abundant immune cell in circulation. However, due to a number of technical challenges for researchers, including the neutrophil's short lifespan and difficulties with preservation, they are often discarded during blood processing and thus ignored in cohort studies. As such, the contribution of neutrophils to disease and their involvement in disease mechanisms is less explored compared with other immune cell types.
The way the immune system operates differs between males and females. This is due to both differential expression of immune-related genes from the sex chromosomes as well as the immune modulatory properties of sex hormones. Together, these effects contribute to a skewed prevalence of disease and disease course between males and females, including allergic-, infectious-, autoimmune-, and cancerous disease.
Remission is the desired outcome following OIT as it allows individuals to discontinue treatment and eat the allergen freely. Early initiation of OIT in infants and toddlers has been embraced as an approach to increase the likelihood of remission. However, there is no high-quality evidence supporting younger age as an independent factor driving remission; available studies are limited by small samples of younger subjects and lack of adjustment for confounding covariates, particularly peanut-specific IgE (sIgE) levels which is closely cor
Persistent regional and systemic inflammation may promote pain and hyperalgesia in complex regional pain syndrome. In this study, we investigated whether stimulation of α1-adrenoceptors on peripheral blood mononuclear cells might contribute to this inflammatory state.
Human perinatal life is characterized by a period of extraordinary change during which newborns encounter abundant environmental stimuli and exposure to potential pathogens. To meet such challenges, the neonatal immune system is equipped with unique functional characteristics that adapt to changing conditions as development progresses across the early years of life, but the molecular characteristics of such adaptations remain poorly understood.
Influenza A virus is the only influenza virus causing flu pandemics. Influenza is a highly contagious disease that can be deadly, especially in high-risk groups. Worldwide, these annual epidemics are estimated to result in about 3 to 5 million cases of severe illness and in about 290,000 to 650,000 respiratory deaths.
Food allergy is a major public health challenge in Australia. Despite widespread uptake of infant feeding and allergy prevention guidelines the incidence of peanut allergy in infants has not fallen, and prevalence of peanut allergy in school-aged children continues to rise. Therefore, effective and accessible treatments for peanut allergy are required.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes annual epidemics of infections affecting the whole population. In vitro, it has been shown to infect and persist in human dendritic cells (DCs) for prolonged periods. Initially persistence is associated with low levels of replication before the virus becomes dormant. Reactivation of viral replication can be triggered many months later.
Nanoparticles are being developed for diverse biomedical applications, but there is concern about potential to promote inflammation, particularly in the lungs.
Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are common chronic respiratory diseases, and some patients have overlapping disease features, termed asthma-COPD overlap. Patients characterized with ACO have increased disease severity; however, the mechanisms driving this have not been widely studied.