Health
fromwww.scientificamerican.com
2 days agoWhat you eat for lunch could influence your immune system just hours later
Timing and type of food intake can enhance T cell function in fighting infections.
A twice-weekly cocktail of three messenger RNAs can rejuvenate the weary immune systems of aged mice and boost responses to vaccination and cancer treatments, a study has found. The treatment provides a needed boost to immune cells called T cells, which coordinate immune responses and kill infected cells. As people age, their ability to produce T cells wanes, and the ones they have become less effective.
Since its introduction in the late 1980s, HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) has saved millions of lives by transforming HIV from a fatal disease into a chronic, manageable condition. Despite these achievements, ART is not a cure, and even after decades of treatment, HIV will rebound rapidly in nearly all individuals who stop therapy. Lifelong ART is accompanied by numerous challenges, such as social stigma and fatigue associated with the need to take pills daily.
"Their discoveries have been decisive for our understanding of how the immune system functions and why we do not all develop serious autoimmune diseases," said Olle Kampe, chair of the Nobel Committee, in a statement.