New treatment will provide lifelong protection against severe allergies?

Scientists from the University of Queensland in Australia have found a way to "turn on" and "turn off" the immune response to some severe forms of allergies, such as asthma.

The results of the study, published in JCI Insight, suggest that a person with a body reaction to common allergens, such as peanuts and shellfish, may no longer be afraid to consume them. Researchers say that their method will help to avoid dramatic symptoms.

Features of the new methodology

The new technique is based on erasing the memory of immune cells, known as T cells. It is because of this memory that the allergy is resistant to treatment. However, with the help of gene therapy, the team was able to reduce the sensitivity of the immune system and provide permanent protection.

"The symptoms that appear in a person with allergies or asthma are the result of the reaction of immune cells to the protein in the allergen," says Professor Ray Stepto, who led the study. "In their work, scientists used an experimental allergen that provokes asthma, but the new method may be Is used for people suffering from a serious allergy to peanuts, bee venom, shellfish and other substances. "

In their study, scientists isolated blood stem cells and added a gene that regulates the allergen protein. They found that the memory of an allergy to an immune response can be removed. Thus, with the repeated exposure of the allergen, it becomes possible to stop the body's reaction to it. This means that, instead of stopping the symptoms, scientists will be able to stop the disease itself even before it manifests itself.

At what stage is the study

Currently, the study is at the preclinical stage, that is, it has not yet been tested in humans. At this stage, scientists used mice, in the body of which there was a certain allergen of asthma, and could prevent them from allergic reactions. The next step is to test a new method on human cells in the laboratory.

Thanks to this development, children with peanut allergy, for example, will be able to go to school without fear that food from the school cafeteria will provoke an allergy.

In the end, scientists hope that people with potentially fatal allergies can be cured with just one injection. Their main goal is to make these injections as simple and easily accessible as, say, a flu vaccine. If the results of the study are confirmed, these injections will be able to replace short-term therapies that some people currently suffering from allergies have to resort to.

When treatment becomes public

Scientists have calculated that they still have at least five years of work in the laboratory before they can conduct research in humans. But if their work is successful, its results should be waiting for such a long time, because it is assumed that the effect of one injection will persist for 10-15 years. Thus, if the new method passes all the necessary tests and becomes available to the masses, it will make life easier for millions of people suffering from allergies.