autoimmune – Engineering Evil

Creatine powers the immune system to fight cancer

Creatine powers the immune system to fight cancer

The energy-buffering function of creatine certainly goes beyond regulating CD8 T cells. In CrT-KO mice, we have observed the hyporesponsiveness of multiple immune cells in various mouse tumor models. It is also likely that creatine regulates immune reactions to multiple diseases beyond cancer, such as infections and autoimmune diseases (Riesberg et al., 2016). Studying the roles of creatine in modulating various immune cells under different health and disease conditions will be interesting topics for future research.

Stefano Di Biase, Xiaoya Ma, Xi Wang, Jiaji Yu, Yu-Chen Wang, Drake J. Smith, Yang Zhou, Zhe Li, Yu Jeong Kim, Nicole Clarke, Angela To, Lili Yang. Creatine uptake regulates CD8 T cell antitumor immunity. The Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2019; jem.20182044 DOI: 10.1084/jem.20182044

#creatine #tumors #cancer

http://jem.rupress.org/content/early/2019/10/17/jem.20182044/tab-metrics

Lupus strongly linked to imbalances in gut microbiome

The new study, publishing in the Annals of Rheumatic Diseases online Feb. 19, showed that 61 women diagnosed with SLE had roughly five times more gut bacteria known as Ruminococcus gnavus, than 17 women of similar ages and racial backgrounds who did not have the disease and were healthy.

Alternatively, Silverman says, new treatments could also be used to promote growth of Bacteroides uniformis, bacteria thought to hinder growth of R. gnavus in the gut…..

#lupus #microbiome #Ruminococcus

Doua Azzouz, Aidana Omarbekova, Adriana Heguy, Dominik Schwudke, Nicolas Gisch, Brad H. Rovin, Roberto Caricchio, Jill P. Buyon, Alexander V. Alekseyenko, Gregg J. Silverman. Lupus nephritis is linked to disease-activity associated expansions and immunity to a gut commensal. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 2019; annrheumdis-2018-214856 DOI: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2018-214856

https://ard.bmj.com/content/early/2019/03/01/annrheumdis-2018-214856

Type 1 Diabetes Reversed with New Beta Cell Implant (Animal Model)

Researchers have successfully created a novel biomaterial that can be seeded with insulin-producing beta cells. Implantation of the beta cell-seeded biomaterial reversed diabetes in a mouse model by effectively normalizing glucose levels and significantly increasing survival.

Testosterone eliminated MS symptoms – Animal model

By accident researchers discovered that a guardian molecule cytokine IL-33 that was produced due to testosterone eliminated MS symptoms in mice.

Male-specific IL-33 expression regulates sex-dimorphic EAE susceptibility. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2018; 201710401 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1710401115

Rheumatoid Arthritis resolved with a newly discovered peptide

A peptide was recently discovered that completely resolved Rheumatoid Arthritis in all animals tested within 15 days.

Citation: Suppression and resolution of autoimmune arthritis by rhesus θ-defensin-1, an immunomodulatory macrocyclic peptide. PLOS ONE, 2017; 12 (11): e0187868 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187868