WIKIMEDIA, PEDRO SIMOESEditor’s note (August 1, 2014): This paper was retracted after the authors failed to reproduce the results.
People suffering from narcolepsy may be victims of their own immune system, according to a study published this week (December 18) in Science Translational Medicine. Specifically, researchers have found evidence to suggest that the sleep disorder might result from an immune reaction against the wakefulness-regulating hormone hypocretin—possibly one triggered GlaxoSmithKline’s Pandemrix flu vaccine that has been linked to an increased risk of developing narcolepsy, or even a case of the flu itself.
The work reveals “the fingerprints of an immune attack,” neuroimmunologist Lawrence Steinman of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, who was not involved in the research, told ScienceNOW.
The results are “exactly what we’ve been waiting for,” added vaccine expert Hanna Nohynek of the National Institute for Health and Welfare in Helsinki, who ...
