Retroviruses such as HIV and HTLV-1 don’t hit-and-run, they hit-and-hide. They slip into host cells and insert their own DNA into the cell’s DNA, and from this refuge they establish an infection that lasts a lifetime.

A cell type that causes significant scarring in lung disease appears to have a similar effect in Graves’ disease, University of Michigan Health System researchers have found. The cells, called fibrocytes, are present at a higher than normal frequency in patients with Graves’ disease, according to a new study, the first to associate fibrocytes with [...]

Dr. Johannes M. Weiss and colleagues at the University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany have discovered that osteopontin (OPN) contributes to allergic contact dermatitis. They present these findings in the January 2010 issue of the American Journal of Pathology.

Atrial fibrillation (Afib) is the most common type of abnormal heart beat. It is characterized by scarring of the atrial region of the heart (a hallmark known as atrial fibrosis). Although atrial fibrosis is thought to perpetuate Afib, exactly how it develops has not been determined. Some research has suggested a role for inflammation in [...]

ChemoCentryx, Inc. announced that it has begun enrolling patients in a Phase 2 clinical trial of CCX354, an orally-bioavailable, novel, small molecule drug designed to specifically target the CCR1 chemokine receptor for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).