Seasonal influenza is a major public health issue because it continues to remain associated with considerable mortality, particularly among people who are elderly, immunocompromised, or both. With vaccination and current treatments still being of limited efficacy, research teams are trying to develop new therapeutic approaches. Scientists have shown that in a context of influenza infection, a metabolite called succinate, which is naturally present in the body, has an antiviral...
A very small percentage of people with HIV-1, known as "post-treatment controllers" (PTCs), are able to control their infection after interrupting all antiretroviral therapy. Understanding the fundamental mechanisms that govern their immune response is essential in order to develop HIV-1 vaccines, novel therapeutic strategies to achieve remission, or both. A recent study investigated the humoral immune response – also known as antibody-mediated immunity – in some PTCs in whom...
Scientists have discovered a mechanism that enables cells infected with Listeria monocytogenes to escape immune responses. This mechanism provides infected cells circulating in the blood with a higher probability of adhering to and infecting cells of cerebral vessels, thereby enabling bacteria to cross the blood-brain barrier and infect the brain.
Researchers report that the MICA gene is a new histocompatibility gene, in that it helps to better explain and predict the success or failure of a kidney transplant. Their findings have been published in Nature Medicine.
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur and Inserm discovered that innate effector cells – group 3 innate lymphoid cells – act not only during the early stages of infection but can also be trained to develop an innate form of immunological memory that can protect the host during reinfection.
Monoclonal antibody therapy can be very effective in treating numerous illnesses, such as cancers, chronic inflammatory conditions, and infectious diseases. Researchers from Inserm, Université de Paris, Sorbonne Université and CNRS1 have designed and tested a new immunotherapy approach that uses pre-existing antibodies directed against the Epstein-Barr virus – part of the herpes family of viruses and present in over 95% of the world's population – in order to target...
In a new study, researchers have revealed a phenomenon of programmed cell death known as "apoptosis" that would explain the loss of lymphocytes in these patients.
In response to the 2014-2016 Ebola epidemic, the clinical development of a two-dose regimen of vaccines Ad26.ZEBOV and MVA-BN-Filo was accelerated. Approved in 2020 by the European Commission for use in epidemic emergencies, this regimen continues to demonstrate its relevance. An Inserm study has played a role in evaluating its safety and immunogenicity in healthy adults and in those with HIV and compared different time intervals between the two...
In 2013, a medical team proposed to the Haitian government and to Unicef a coordinated strategy to fight against cholera, aimed at breaking the chains of transmission. This strategy and its results, which show the apparent cessation of cholera transmission in Haiti since 2019, have just been the subject of a publication in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Teams of researchers measured the antibody and cellular responses generated by a messenger RNA vaccine in patients with systemic lupus (LS). This work shows that vaccination is both well tolerated and effective, even against worrying variants. The factors associated with a poor vaccine response in some of these patients have been identified in order to better anticipate who should benefit from reinforced protective measures and / or adapted...
