General Health

The scientists from Imperial College London, the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research in Davos, Switzerland, and other international institutions have complete a research to discover the mechanism which can lead to hay fever and other allergic reactions.

They preventing the immune system from regulating itself properly, and found that a gene known as GATA-3 can block the development of regulatory T-cells in the immune system by locking another gene. This gene, FOXP3, is key to regulatory T cells and when it is blocked new regulatory T cells stop being produced.

They suggest that, if they can develop therapies to stop FOXP3 being blocked, they can ensure that regulatory T cells are free to work normally, because regulatory T cells keep the other cells in check, suppressing pro-allergic cells known as Th2 cells and stopping the immune system from needlessly attacking the body.

Some types of cells in the immune system, particularly the Th2 cells, wrongly identify a particular allergen, such as pollen, as being dangerous, in people with allergies. Whenever the person encounters this allergen again, these cells promote the production of antibodies to attack it, causing an allergic reaction.

The finding will be much helping to understand how healthy individuals are able to tolerate allergens and what they need to do to re-induce tolerance in the immune systems of patients with allergies.

It is hoped that they will soon be able to help not only patients suffering from single allergies, but also those with multiple ones - the atopic patients.

Adapted from materials provided by Imperial College London.

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