skin diseases

(NIH/National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases) Scientists at the NIH have found a mechanism in the immune systems of mice that can lead to the development of autoimmune disease when turned off.

The findings shed light on the processes that lead to the development of autoimmunity and could also have implications for the development of drugs to increase the immune response in diseases such as cancer and HIV.

The study paper appears online today in the journal Nature.

A potential diagnostic test that could help surgeons confirm or rule out the presence of infection-causing bacteria in prosthetic joints that require surgical revision has been developed by researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, a part of the National Institutes of Health.

Such a test could spare a subgroup of people who need the surgery a time-consuming and costly treatment for infection, while helping to ensure that people who need the procedure get it.