Spleen in Medical News

Spleen May Help Heart Recover From Disease

... doesn't rank down there with the appendix, the spleen isn't exactly known as a vital organ. In fact, ... fine without it. But new research suggests the spleen plays a bigger role in the immune system than previously thought. In mice, scientists found, the spleen serves as a home for a type of white blood cell ...

Embargoed Until Monday, July 21 at 5 p.m. EST; Scientists Figure Out How the Immune System and Brain Communicate to Control Disease

... anatomical path through which the brain and the spleen communicate. ... anatomical path through which the brain and the spleen communicate. The spleen, once thought to be ... ultimately lead to treatments that target the spleen to send the right message when fighting human ...

Preliminary Results from Phase 2 Genzyme Study Highlight Potential of Novel Oral Compound for Gaucher Disease

... one year of treatment: -- At six months, spleen volumes had decreased from baseline by a mean of ... the 21 patients for whom data were available. spleen volumes had decreased by 40 percent among 11 ... parts of the body, primarily the liver, spleen and bone marrow. Accumulation of Gaucher cells ...

Study identifies key player in the body's immune response to chronic stress

... rate and immune system organs like the thymus and spleen lose mass and begin to atrophy, said Dr. Shi. ... The normal OPN mice experienced weight loss, spleen and thymus atrophy, and a reduced number of white ... control group. White blood cell death in the spleen and thymus was evident only in the mice with ...

Research suggests new cellular targets for HIV drug development

... concentrations of macrophages, with lymphoid tissues such as from the spleen and lymph nodes that had a mix of HIV-infected macrophages and T cells. ... tissues generally associated with disease processes, such as the meninges, spleen and lymph nodes. The researchers concluded that HIV-infected ...

Medical Tourism - Choosing a Mexican Cancer Clinic

... for children because of this risk. When she asked about Tom's enlarged spleen and lymph nodes, the doctor told her not to worry, he did not need ... hospital. He was jaundiced, and needed a transfusion. An MRI showed his spleen was twice the normal size. Tom had one round of chemo and immediately ...

Type 1 diabetes may result from good genes behaving badly

... an explosion of changes in gene expression in the pancreatic lymph nodes, spleen and circulating blood cells of the diabetic mice compared with those in ... the diabetic mice in all three tissues examined: pancreatic lymph nodes, spleen and blood cells. According to Dr. Fathman, the results suggest that ...

Inhaled tuberculosis vaccine more effective than traditional shot

... treatment and subsequently exposed to TB, less than 1 percent of lung and spleen tissue showed effects of the disease. By contrast, in animals treated with ... injected vaccine, some 5 percent of lung tissue and 10 percent of spleen tissue showed symptoms following TB exposure. Administered to 100 ...

JCI table of contents: Nov. 8, 2007

... The mice exhibited increased activity of the protein HIF-2-alpha in the spleen and this was associated with an increased number of red blood cells in the spleen due to their increased generation at that site. The authors therefore ...

Decision Resources' Updated Rheumatoid Arthritis Report Now Includes Forecast for Rigel Pharmaceuticals' Fostamatinib Disodium

... regarding additional Phase II clinical data for fostamatinib disodium. The report finds that, owing to its impressive efficacy, the spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk) inhibitor fostamatinib disodium will likely precede TNF-alpha inhibitors such as Amgen/Wyeth/Takeda's Enbrel and Abbott/Eisai's ...

CryoLife Receives CE Mark Approval for BioFoam(R) Hemostatic Technology

... at up to six centers in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy to support its initial marketing efforts. Based on the number of liver and spleen procedures performed annually in the European Community, CryoLife estimates the annual European market opportunity for BioFoam to be approximately ...

Leukemia cells evade immune system by mimicking normal cells, Stanford studies show

... as much CD47 as their normal counterparts, CD47 levels were also temporarily elevated in healthy bone marrow stem cells migrating to organs like the spleen or the liver in response to infection or inflammation, or to bone marrow sites to replenish missing stem cells. A closer look determined why. ...

Fluorescent probes may permit monitoring of chemotherapy effectiveness, Stanford study shows

... system in place to deal with viral infections, or just to complete their normal life cycle. Cells lining the gut, for example, or immune cells in the spleen and thymus are meant to live only a couple of days. "You lose three-quarters of a million cells per second in your body due to apoptosis," noted Guy ...

Cytopia Lodges IND for JAK2 Inhibitor CYT387

... cells and a reliance on organs other than the bone marrow, including the liver and spleen, to produce cells. Typical symptoms include an enlarged spleen and progressive anemia and poor overall survival. "The filing of an IND for CYT387 is the culmination of a comprehensive preclinical development ...

CEL-SCI Expands Testing of Its Vaccine to Determine Efficacy Against More Virulent Strain of H1N1 Swine and Other Influenza Viruses

... against tuberculosis and have the potential to treat swine and other H1N1 influenzas. The investigators presented data that showed that blood and spleen cells from immunized mice produced gamma interferon in response to the vaccine, while the cells from mice in the various control groups did not. ...

Amgen Highlights Data to Be Presented at ASCO

... Similar indications for Neulasta were approved in Europe and Australia the same year. Neulasta Important Product Safety Information Ruptured spleen (including fatal cases) and a serious lung problem called acute respiratory distress syndrome have been reported. Call your doctor or seek emergency ...

IDRI and Chembio Collaborate to Develop a Low-Cost Test for Visceral Leishmaniasis

... difficult. In these challenging conditions, the traditional labor-intensive and complex diagnostic procedures -- invasive removal of bone marrow, spleen and lymph node tissues for microscopic examination and isolation of the parasite by culture -- are neither feasible nor field-friendly. "We are ...

Immune-based drug approved in Europe for pediatric cancer patients

... tripeptide (MTP). The lipids trigger the macrophages to consume MEPACT. Once consumed, the MTP stimulates macrophages, particularly in the liver, spleen and lungs, to find tumor cells and kill them. Patients undergo pre-operative chemotherapy followed by surgery to resect the bone tumor and then ...

Himfr.com Recommends Five Foods for Spring

... leek's ( http://www.himfr.com/buy-leek/ ) nature is warm; it is the most desirable to the human body. In spring, eating leeks often can benefit the spleen and stomach. Because leeks are not easy to digest, one should not eat too many. Spinach: Spinach is better in spring, green leaves and ...

Marijuana Linked to Aggressive Testicular Cancer

... noted that the testes could be particularly vulnerable to the effects of marijuana, given that the organ -- along with the brain, heart, uterus and spleen -- carries specific receptors for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the principal psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. As well, previous human and ...

Marijuana use linked to increased risk of testicular cancer

... main psychoactive component of marijuana. Since then, a number of other sites have been found to contain THC receptors, including the heart, uterus, spleen and immune-system cells. The male reproductive system also naturally produces a cannabinoid-like chemical that is thought to have a protective ...

Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg Faces Tough Battle Against Pancreatic Cancer

... to 10 days) and the location of the tumor, she probably underwent a distal pancreatectomy (removal of the end of the pancreas) and likely had her spleen removed as well, Sasson said. The tumor was apparently found during routine testing that was part of an annual physical. Ginsburg is a 10-year ...

Help for liver transplant patients with small-for-size syndrome

... occlusion with improvement of liver function tests over the course of the next one to two weeks," the authors report. None developed post-operative spleen infections and all were alive and well after an average follow-up time of three years. One of the patients treated radiologically did not improve, ...

Targeted nanospheres find, penetrate, then fuel burning of melanoma

... targeted nanospheres were found throughout the tumor. "There are many biological barriers to effective use of nanoparticles, with the liver and spleen being the most important," Li said. The body directs foreign particles and defective cells to those organs for destruction. Most of the targeted ...

Novel therapeutic approaches may improve patient outcomes in several platelet disorders

... low production of platelets in the bone marrow, increased breakdown of platelets in the bloodstream, or increased breakdown of platelets in the spleen or liver, which can be induced by certain anemias, cancers, infections, or medications. Symptoms can include bruising, nose bleeds, bleeding in the ...

Genetic disease treatments and pharmacogenetics: From scientific discovery to medical delivery

... were cured of this complication, and over 95 percent of patients had significant resolution of their low platelet count. Furthermore, liver and spleen volumes were dramatically reduced over the treatment period, and patient complaints of severe bone pain were significantly reduced after only two ...

Battling Bacteria in the Blood: U-M Researchers Tackle Deadly Infections

... concentrated in the body during different stages of the infection, and how quickly they were killed and cleared from the body. The liver, lung and spleen had the highest concentrations, and the lung appeared to have the most effective bacteria-killing system. Some of the mice were given a ...

HIV Can Re-Emerge From a Single Cell

... blood to zero, the disease remains incurable. According to Gunthard, the virus can hide in the lymphatic system -- which includes lymph nodes, the spleen and other organs -- and in the brain and bone marrow, among other places. Doctors generally urge AIDS patients to take their medication on a ...

Regulatory B cells exist -- and pack a punch

... by some of these cells in the population. In this study, they found that the B10 cells represented only 1-2 percent of all of the B cells in the spleen of a normal mouse. Before this, no one had definitively identified this B cell subset or such regulatory B cells in normal mice, although B cell ...

Skin flaps deliver cancer-fighting therapy, ASPS study reveals

... Additionally, the serious side effects previously documented with systemic use of IL-12 were not found in the treated rats. The liver, lung and spleen remained normal throughout the study. The delivery technique through free flaps did not cause liver toxicity, whereas using IL-12 intravenously in ...

Donor Dogs Give the Gift of Life

... Those reasons include illnesses involving chronic anemia or clotting disorders, bone marrow diseases, and major surgeries such as removal of the spleen or a spinal surgery. Too often, Mackin said, dogs also make the mistake of consuming rat bait containing the anticoagulant warfarin, which can ...

Sutter Opens County's First Non-Hospital-Based Nuclear Imaging Option

... other diagnostic modalities." Sutter Fairfield Diagnostic Imaging Center will also utilize the scanner to examine gallbladder, kidney, liver and spleen functions, and to detect the spread of cancer to the bones. These bone scans can also see fractures much earlier than conventional X-ray scans. ...

Should You Worry About Mercury Poisoning? Find out in the March Issue of Natural Solutions - Now on Newsstands

... acute exposures to heavy metals, doesn't detect metals that have been deposited in the organs for years. "Solid organs like the liver, brain, and spleen hold on to the metal for quite some time, often years, which can lead to myriad problems, among them organ dysfunction, memory troubles, lowered ...

New target for cancer therapy may improve treatment for solid tumors

... Center, San Antonio. So stroma becomes an ideal alternative target for T cells." One concern was that other, healthy cells in tissues like the spleen could also pick up the antigens and become a target for T cells, said Zhang. We did not see this," he added. "Only tumor-derived stromal cells appear ...

Drug-based on MGH discovery may significantly improve treatment of dangerous blood disorder

... platelet production. Currently available treatments for ITP including steroid drugs, which have significant side effects, and removal of the spleen (splenectomy) are designed to reduce platelet destruction and may be ineffective in many patients. Thrombopoietin is the natural regulator of ...

Sickle Cell Disease Pain Can Occur Daily and Is Much More Severe Than Previously Thought

... the sickle cells block blood flow to the limbs and organs and can cause pain, serious infections, and organ damage, especially in the lungs, kidneys, spleen and brain. Because of the potential for damage to organs, people with sickle cell disease have shorter-than-average life expectancy. Hydroxyurea is ...

Gold nanoparticle probes may allow earlier cancer detection

... accumulate in tumors ten times more than particles without antibodies. However, both kinds of nanoparticles tended to accumulate in the liver and spleen over several days, the researchers found. Dr. Nie says his lab plans to modify the coatings of the nanoparticles to improve tumor targeting. ...

Researchers train the immune system to deliver virus that destroys cancer in lab models

... less, but not completely gone. There were no cancer cells in the spleen. Ten-to-14 days after a T-cell transfer, both the lymph nodes and spleen were free of melanoma tumor cells. Mice treated with a single dose of the T-cells transfer developed a potent T-cell response against melanoma ...

Evidence links anemia drugs with leukemic transformation in patients with primary myelofibrosis

... be evaluated. He also points out that ESA treatment in patients with primary myelofibrosis has the potential to cause further enlargement of the spleen (a known complication of the disease). The study evaluated the records of 311 Mayo Clinic patients, seen with primary myelofibrosis between 1976 ...

Gene Mutation Linked to Parkinson's Disease

... focus on the GBA gene. Mutations of this gene have already been identified as the cause of Gaucher disease, a rare fat-storage disorder that disrupts spleen and brain function. Gaucher's and Parkinson's have some links, the study authors noted. In some cases, Gaucher's patients have a family history of ...