‘Recently recovered Covid-19 patients produce virus-specific antibodies'

Most newly discharged patients who recently recovered from COVID-19 produce varying virus-specific antibodies and T-cells, according to a study that has implications for designing an effective vaccine against the deadly disease.

14 patients examined in the study, published in the journal Immunity, showed wide-ranging immune responses.

However, the results from 6 of them that were assessed at 2 weeks after discharge suggest that antibodies were maintained for at least that long.

The study also indicates which parts of the virus are most effective at triggering these immune responses, and should therefore be targeted by potential vaccines.

The researchers, noted that it is not clear why immune responses varied widely across the patients.

The variability may be related to the initial quantities of virus that the patients encountered their physical states or their microbiota, they said.

Other open questions, the researchers said, include whether these immune responses protect against COVID-19 upon re-exposure to SARS-CoV-2, as well as which types of T cells are activated by infection with the virus.

It is also important to note that the lab tests that are used to detect antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in humans still need further validation to determine their accuracy and reliability, they said.

These findings suggest both b and T cells participate in immune-mediated protection against the viral infection, said co-senior study author.

Our work has provided a basis for further analysis of protective immunity and for understanding the mechanism underlying the development of COVID-19, especially in severe cases. It also has implications for designing an effective vaccine to protect against infection, he said.

Relatively little is known about the protective immune responses induced by the disease-causing virus, SARS-CoV-2, and addressing this gap in knowledge may accelerate the development of an effective vaccine, noted a scientist.

The researchers compared the immune responses of 14 COVID-19 patients who had recently become virus-free to those of 6 healthy donors.

8 of the patients were newly discharged, and the remaining 6 were follow-up patients who were discharged 2 weeks prior to the analyses.

The researchers collected blood samples and assessed the levels of immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies, which are the first to appear in response to an infection, as well as immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies-- the most common type found in blood circulation.

Compared to healthy controls, both newly discharged and follow-up patients showed higher levels of IgM and IgG antibodies that bind to the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein-- which encapsulated the viral genomic RNA-- as well as the S protein's receptor-binding domain (S-RBD), which binds to receptors on host cells during the process of viral entry.

These findings show that COVID-19 patients can mount antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 proteins and suggest that these antibodies are maintained for at least 2 weeks after discharge.

5 newly discharged patients had high concentrations of neutralising antibodies that bind to a pseudovirus expressing the SARS-CoV-2 S protein, the researchers said.

Neutralising antibodies prevents infectious particles from interacting with host cells, they said.

All except one follow-up patient had detectable neutralising antibodies against the pseudovirus, according to the researchers.

Compared to healthy controls in 5 newly discharged patients had higher concentrations of T cells that secrete interferon gamma (IFN?)-  a signaling molecule that plays a critical role in immunity-- in response to the SARS-CoV-2 nucelocapsid protein they said.

These are the same patients who had high concentrations of neutralising antibodies, the researchers said.
 

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations  
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
https://kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com. for info on knee replacement

Researchers find way to make immunotherapy work for lymphoma

Researchers have developed a novel way to use immunotherapy drugs against lymphoma by combining them with stem cell transplantation.

The study, found that this new process is not only effective in lymphoma treatment but also increases the success of the drugs in melanoma and lung cancer.

This type of immunotherapy, called "checkpoint blockade", ramps up the ability of immune cells called T-cells to fight cancer by removing the "cloaking effect" that tumours use to hide from them.

Checkpoint blockade therapy is effective in several tumour types, but generally ineffective in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.

The study's findings suggest that when this immunotherapy is combined with a stem cell transplant, which the researchers call "immunotransplant", the process ramps up the T cells to increase the cancer-killing immune response tenfold, allowing it to be effective for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and more successful for melanoma and lung cancer.

The transplant works by "making space" for re-infused immune cells (T cells) to proliferate by clearing out a patient's original immune system. While they are proliferating and building the immune system back up, they become activated, and the anti-tumour T cells' anti-cancer effect becomes stronger.

"Using immunotransplant to enhance the efficacy of checkpoint blockade therapy could be broadly significant as these immunotherapies are a standard therapy for melanoma, kidney cancer, lung cancer, and others," said the study's corresponding author .

"Even for settings in which checkpoint blockade therapy proves ineffective, our data suggest that its efficacy may be 'rescued' by immunotransplant. This research also suggests that the addition of checkpoint blockade may improve other T cell therapies, such as CAR-T therapy."

The findings have prompted the initiation of a clinical trial using the immunotransplant approach to treat patients with aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                      FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                    

                                https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com

Types of Immunotherapy for Lymphoma

Your specialist may talk to you about using immunotherapy to help treat your lymphoma. It’s a new type of cancer treatment that works with your natural immune system to find and kill cancer cells in your body.
These are the different kinds of immunotherapy you may get for lymphoma:

• Monoclonal antibodies
• Immunomodulating drugs
• Immune checkpoint inhibitors
• CAR T-cell therapy

Monoclonal Antibodies

Your doctor will get your lymphoma cells tested to see if they have certain markers -- proteins called antigens. You’ll get a monoclonal antibody drug that aims at the antigens found on your lymphoma cells.
Monoclonal antibodies are made in a lab. They’re designed to lock onto certain antigens that cancer cells make too much of. This means that they affect mostly cancer cells with little damage to normal cells.
Monoclonal antibodies can work in -
 1. They keep cancer cells from growing by blocking signals sent out by the cancer cells. Blocking the signals stops these processes of the cancer cells growing.

2. They can also bind to the cancer cells and trigger your immune system to kill them. They may do this by marking the cells so your immune system attacks them. Or they can block the signals the cancer cells send out to tell your immune system to leave them alone.

3. Monoclonal antibodies can be attached to toxins, chemo, or radioactive substances. They then carry these cell-killing materials to the cancer cells and lock onto the antigen. This leads to the death of the cancer cells, with little to no effect on your normal cells that don’t have the antigen.

Here are some of the ways monoclonal antibodies can be used, depending on the type of lymphoma you have:
Follicular lymphoma: If you have a large stage I or II, or a certain kind of stage III or IV follicular lymphoma, your first treatment will likely be rituximab and chemo. You might get radiation, too. Then, if the lymphoma shrinks or goes away, you may get rituximab alone as maintenance therapy.
You can get rituximab alone or along with different chemo if the lymphoma comes back after treatment or stops responding to the treatment you’re getting.
Ibritumomab (Zevalin) or obinutuzumab (Gazyva) are other monoclonal antibodies you might get instead of rituximab.

Mantle call lymphomas: You might get rituximab along with chemo as the first treatment for mantle cell lymphoma. You can also get rituximab as maintenance treatment or if the lymphoma comes back.

Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma: You will get rituximab along with chemo for any stage of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). You may also get radiation afterward.
You may get a monoclonal antibody called pembrolizumab (Keytruda) if the lymphoma comes back or doesn’t respond to the treatment with rituximab.

Burkitt lymphoma: Doctors can use rituximab to treat Burkitt lymphoma as your first treatment or as a later treatment. You’ll get it along with chemo.

Marginal zone lymphomas: Both gastric and non-gastric MALT lymphomas can be treated with rituximab. So can nodal and splenic marginal zone lymphomas. If you have any stage of one of these cancers, you might get rituximab, often along with chemo, as one of your treatments. You may also get it if the cancer comes back.

Rituximab, alone or with chemo, might be the first treatment you get for lymphoma in your skin (cutaneous B-cell lymphoma). Doctors can also combine it with the drug hyaluronidase (this is called Rituxan Hycela) and give it as a shot right into the skin lymphoma if it’s only in one area.

You might get a different monoclonal antibody, brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris), by IV if other treatments haven’t worked. Alemtuzumab (Campath) is another option if the lymphoma comes back after other treatments. You might get it by IV or as a shot into the skin lymphoma.

Hodgkin's lymphoma: You may get a monoclonal antibody called brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris) if you can’t have a stem cell transplant or classic Hodgkin's lymphoma comes back after treatment. You might get this as part of your first treatment if you have certain symptoms and blood test results. This drug binds to the CD30 antigen, which is common on Hodgkin's lymphoma cells. It’s attached to a chemo drug, which then kills the cell.

You can get rituximab along with chemo and radiation if you have early stage nodular lymphocyte predominant Hodgkin's disease (NLPHD) that’s causing symptoms or large tumors. You can also get it if you have more advanced-stage NLPHD, either alone or with chemo, and maybe radiation.

T-cell lymphomas: If your lymphoma stops responding to chemo, your doctor may talk to you about trying the monoclonal antibody called alemtuzumab (Campath) or brentuximab vedotin (Adcetris).

Immunomodulating Drugs

These drugs help your immune system work better, but doctors don’t know exactly how they work. The two drugs used are thalidomide (Thalomid) and lenalidomide (Revlimid).
You may get one of these drugs if you have one of these types of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL): a T-cell lymphoma; or a follicular, marginal zone, mantle cell, or diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. You might also get one of these drugs if you have Hodgkin's lymphoma that hasn’t responded to other treatments or that came back after treatment.
You can only get these drugs if you agree to take special precautions to prevent pregnancy because they cause severe birth defects.

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Cells have proteins on them called checkpoints. They help your immune system know the difference between good and bad cells. Lymphoma cells can make these checkpoints and trick your immune system into not killing them. These drugs help keep this from happening.
For example, PD-1 is a checkpoint on your T cells. When it binds to the protein called PD-L1 on another cell, the T cell is stopped from killing that cell. Your Hodgkin's lymphoma cells may make a lot of PD-L1. This tells your T cells to leave them alone. There are drugs that can block PD-1. This means your T cells aren’t turned off and your immune system can attack the cancer cells.

Classic Hodgkin's lymphoma: If the lymphoma has continued to grow while you’re getting other treatment that includes a monoclonal antibody, nivolumab (Opdivo) may be an option.
If you have a stage III or IV Hodgkin's lymphoma that’s not responding to chemo or monoclonal antibodies, or has come back after a transplant, nivolumab or pembrolizumab (Keytruda) might be helpful.

CAR T-Cell Therapy

This is a very new treatment used for some types of B-cell lymphoma. CAR stands for chimeric antigen receptor. CARs are designed to lock onto antigens found on your lymphoma cells. Each patient has their own CAR T cells made just for them.

To do this, you get some T cells filtered out of your blood to make CARs in a lab. These cells are multiplies and injected back, so that the CAR T cells travel through your blood to find, lock onto, and kill the cancer cells. They continue to grow and multiply in your body so that CAR T cells can go on to kill cancer cells for months, or maybe even years.

Your doctor may talk to you about CAR T-cell therapy if you have diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) that’s not responding to other treatments. It’s also approved to treat relapsed or refractory primary mediastinal large B-cell lymphoma, high grade B-cell lymphoma, and DLBCL arising from follicular lymphoma.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                                                                                                                                        PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/  

FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                        https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                              
FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com

Exercise in old age prevents the immune system from declining

Doing lots of exercise in older age can prevent the immune system from declining and protect people against infections, scientists say.

They followed 125 long-distance cyclists, some now in their 80s, and found they had the immune systems of 20-year-olds.

A Prof. who took part in and co-authored the research, said: "If exercise was a pill, everyone would be taking it.

"It has wide-ranging benefits for the body, the mind, for our muscles and our immune system."

The Prof. said: "The immune system declines by about 2-3% a year from our 20s, which is why older people are more susceptible to infections, conditions like rheumatoid arthritis and, potentially, cancer.
"Because the cyclists have the immune system of a 20-year-old rather than a 70- or 80-year-old, it means they have added protection against all these issues."

The researchers looked at markers in the blood for T-cells, which help the immune system respond to new infections.

These are produced in the thymus, a gland in the chest, which normally shrinks in size in adulthood.
They found that the endurance cyclists were producing the same level of T-cells as adults in their 20s, whereas a group of inactive older adults were producing very few.

The researchers believe that being physically active in old age will help people respond better to vaccines, and so be better protected against infections such as flu.

Co-author  said: "Being sedentary goes against evolution because humans are designed to be physically active. 

"You don't need to be a competitive athlete to reap the benefits - or be an endurance cyclist - anything which gets you moving and a little bit out of puff will help." 

Professors believe that highly physically active older people represent the perfect group in which to analyse the true effects of biological ageing.

A separate paper found that the cyclists did not lose muscle mass or strength, and did not see an increase in body fat - which are usually associated with ageing.

I met a dozen of the cyclists, on a morning ride. Despite the bitter cold, they were universally cheerful, and clearly used to riding in all weathers.

They are members of a long-distance cycling organisation that organises events ranging from 100km to 300km.

The older members - in their 80s - say they do only the "short" 100km (62-mile) rides, but this is still highly impressive.

So why do they do it?

An elderly person said: "I do it for my health, because it's sociable, and because I enjoy the freedom it gives you."

Another elderly said: "One of the first results I got from the medical study was I was told my body fat was comparable to that of a 19-year-old."

Another aged just 64, is a comparative youngster in the group. He averages 100 miles a week on his bike, with more during the summer. 

He said: "I cycle for a sense of well-being and to enjoy our wonderful countryside."

Cycling 60 miles or more may not be your idea of fun, but these riders have found something that gives them pleasure, which is a key reason why they continue.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.    

PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO VIEW MY BLOG-                      
HTTP:GSEASYRECIPES.BLOGSPOT.COM/

FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                     

HTTP://KNEE REPLACEMENT-STICK CLUB.BLOGSPOT.COM/
FOR CROCHET DESIGNS
HTTP://MY CROCHET CREATIONS.BLOGSPOT.COM

Aging immune system may explain age-related cancer risk increase

The key to cancer prevention may lie in the immune system rather than genetic mutations, the current focus of most anti-cancer efforts across the world, according to a major new study carried out recently.

Eight million people die of cancer across the world each year. Men are significantly more likely than women to be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and for most cancers the chance of developing the disease rises dramatically with age.

For decades, it has been known that mutations arising either as a result of genetic predisposition, or lifestyle and environmental factors cause cancer. The traditional view is that the way cancer incidence increases with age could be understood and quantified if multiple (typically five to six) mutations in one cell are required to initiate cancer.

The researchers have shown that the declining immune system with age may actually be a stronger reason for the increasing incidence of developing cancer than multiple mutations.

Following the hypothesis that an ageing immune system may result in higher rates of cancer, just as it leads to older people being more prone to other diseases, they looked at data on 2 million cases of cancer over the 18-70 age range. They then developed a mathematical equation for how they would expect cancer incidence to rise in relation to a declining immune system and compared it to the age profiles for 100 different cancers.

Their model fitted the data better than the multiple mutation hypothesis. Because the immune system generally declines more slowly in women than men, they were also able to account for the gender difference in cancer incidence, something that mutations alone cannot easily explain.

This suggests that the immune system, particularly as it declines, may play a far bigger role in the development of cancer than previously thought. If borne out by further studies, this could have significant implications for cancer prevention and treatment across the globe.

"This is still very early days but if we are proven right then you could be talking about a whole new way to treat and prevent cancer," said the senior author of the study.

"Nearly all of the mainstream research into cancer is based on how we can understand genetic mutations, target them and thereby cure the disease. We're not debating the fact that mutations cause cancer, but are asking whether mutations alone can account for the rapid rise in cancer incidence with age when ageing causes other profound changes in the body."

A primary cause of immune system ageing is the shrinking of the thymus gland. This is where T cells, which circulate the body killing dysfunctional cells or foreign agents, are produced.

Thymic involution begins from around the age of one and the thymus roughly halves in size every 16 years, with a corresponding fall in the production of T cells. The researchers found an extremely strong correlation between the chances of certain cancers increasing and the new T cell populations falling.

"The immunosurveillance hypothesis is that cancer cells are continually arising in the body but that normally the immune system kills them before a new tumour is able to establish itself," said a Dr.  who initiated the research.

"The T cells are constantly scanning for cancer cells, looking to destroy them. If they can't find them soon enough or the immune system is weak then the cancer population has the chance to grow. The chances of this happening will increase with age as the thymus is shrinking all the time.

"For our model, we imagined a war between T cells and cancer cells, which the cancer cells win if they grow beyond a certain threshold. We then set this threshold to be declining with age, proportional to T cell production. This simple hypothesis turns out to be able to explain much of the cancer incidence data."

A Dr.  added, "The increase of cancer incidence with age is slower in women, something which we would naively expect to be effectively gender-neutral. However, the thymus gland shrinks more slowly in women, so we were able to make a prediction on the differential cancer incidence with gender that once again shows our model to be more accurate than the traditional model."

The team tested their model on data from a programme. The results showed that many cancers appear to be very strongly linked to the decline of the immune system, while others are more likely linked to a combination of immune system decline and multiple mutations.

An expert in thymus biology, said, "We believe that our findings are extremely relevant and show the need to take the immune system even more seriously in cancer research.

"In addition to mutations, this suggests we should also focus on how to boost thymus function in a controlled way, perhaps by transplantation or by controlled regeneration, so we can increase the number of T cells we are making. Of course, we also need to look at whether there may be unintended consequences of doing this, and how to minimise these if they occur."

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.    

PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO VIEW MY BLOG-                      
HTTP:GSEASYRECIPES.BLOGSPOT.COM/

FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                        

HTTP://KNEE REPLACEMENT-STICK CLUB.BLOGSPOT.COM/
FOR CROCHET DESIGNS
HTTP://MY CROCHET CREATIONS.BLOGSPOT.COM