Infection and Immunity nieuws
Infection and Immunity nieuws
Jun 29: Antiplatelet therapy not effective in treating critically ill COVID-19 patients
For patients with COVID-19 who are receiving organ support in an intensive care unit (ICU), antiplatelet therapy, either with aspirin or P2Y12 inhibitor (which were found to be equivalent), was ineffective at improving the composite endpoint of death and organ support free days when compared to no antiplatelet therapy.
Read moreJun 28: Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis fall within a spectrum of one single disease
Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) have a predominantly shared genetic background and overlapping immunologic and proteomic signature. This confirms their denomination as falling within a spectrum of one single disease, as was concluded by Emmerik Leijten in his PhD thesis that he will defend on June 29 at Utrecht university.
Read moreJun 22: Basic research at UMC Utrecht contributes to candidate anticancer drug
Investigators at UMC Utrecht and biopharmaceutical company NextCure have published preclinical data on the LAIR family of molecules. A novel first-in-class medicine, NC410, was designed to block immune suppression mediated by LAIR-1, an immunomodulatory receptor expressed on T cells and myeloid cells, including dendritic cells. The candidate drug is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical study in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors.
Read moreJun 4: Towards a better understanding of ‘difficult-to-treat’ rheumatoid arthritis
Despite significant progress in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), approximately 5-20 percent of patients do not respond well to treatment (known as ‘difficult-to-treat’ RA). In her PhD research, Nadia Roodenrijs focused on this specific patient population, to define and improve our understanding of difficult-to-treat RA. This has resulted in uniform terminology and a clear definition of this patient group as well as European management recommendations specific for difficult-to-treat RA.
Read moreJun 1: José Borghans appointed Professor of Quantitative Immunology
Principal investigator José Borghans of the Center for Translational Immunology (CTI), whose research interests include immunological memory in humans, has been appointed Professor of Quantitative Immunology with effect from June 1. “For me, the core of this chair is integrating mathematics and immunology in the lab.”
Read moreMay 29: Research into the use of corona self-tests when secondary schools reopen
UMC Utrecht has been commissioned by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) to investigate the use of corona self-tests in secondary schools in the Netherlands. They have calculated what effects on infections in schools can be expected when education takes place with complete physical presence in the class room. It was examined whether the use of frequent self-testing and vaccination could counteract an increase in infections.
Read moreMay 10: Immunotherapy for high-risk neuroblastoma affects fighting capacity of the immune system
In children with high-risk neuroblastoma, immunotherapy results in both stimulatory and inhibitory effects on the immune system. This finding by researchers from UMC Utrecht and the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in Utrecht provides new insights for improvement of therapy timing as well as new therapy strategies enhancing immune cell fighting capacity.
Read moreMay 3: Microbiome compositional changes may precede the development of inflammatory bowel disease
The gut microbiome of people at increased risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) displays IBD-like signatures. The presence of such IBD-like microbiome signatures might precede the onset of IBD. This was concluded from a study, recently published in Gastroenterology, investigating the intestinal microbiome in IBD-discordant and IBD-concordant twin pairs coordinated by UMC Utrecht in collaboration with the UMC Groningen, Netherlands Twin Register and a consortium of Dutch IBD centers.
Read moreApr 28: Marc Bonten elected as a new member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has announced today that it has elected prof. dr. Marc Bonten as a new member. Members of the KNAW are leading scientists from all disciplines and are chosen based on their scientific achievements. The KNAW has about 550 members. A membership is for life. Together with Marc Bonten, 22 other new members have been elected. The new Academy members will be installed on September 13.
Read moreApr 14: Intestinal bacteria predict risk of diarrhea from Clostridium bacteria
The bacterial composition in the colon can be used to recognize patients at increased risk of infection with the bacterium Clostridium difficile after a course of antibiotics. This was concluded by researchers from UMC Utrecht in collaboration with the University of Antwerp, University of Cologne and the French company Da Volterra on the basis of a study executed in 34 European hospitals affiliated with the COMBACTE consortium. The results were published today in Nature Communications in a back-to-back publication.
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