Date: June 2, 2017
Source: University of Queensland
Summary:
FULL STORY
Might it be possible to 'turn off' a
food allergy?
Credit: © bit24 / Fotolia
A single treatment giving life-long
protection from severe allergies such as asthma could be made possible by
immunology research at The University of Queensland.
A team led by Associate Professor
Ray Steptoe at the UQ Diamantina Institute has been able to 'turn-off' the
immune response which causes allergic reaction in animals.
"When someone has an allergy or
asthma flare-up, the symptoms they experience results from immune cells
reacting to protein in the allergen," Professor Steptoe said.
"The challenge in asthma and
allergies is that these immune cells, known as T-cells, develop a form of
immune 'memory' and become very resistant to treatments.
"We have now been able 'wipe'
the memory of these T-cells in animals with gene therapy, de-sensitising the
immune system so that it tolerates the protein.
"Our work used an experimental
asthma allergen, but this research could be applied to treat those who have
severe allergies to peanuts, bee venom, shell fish and other substances."
Dr Steptoe said the findings would
be subject to further pre-clinical investigation, with the next step being to
replicate results using human cells in the laboratory."
"We take blood stem cells,
insert a gene which regulates the allergen protein and we put that into the
recipient.
"Those engineered cells produce
new blood cells that express the protein and target specific immune cells,
'turning off' the allergic response."
Dr Steptoe said the eventual goal
would be a single injected gene therapy, replacing short-term treatments that
target allergy symptoms with varying degrees of effectiveness.
"We haven't quite got it to the
point where it's as simple as getting a flu jab, so we are working on making it
simpler and safer so it could be used across a wide cross-section of affected
individuals," Dr Steptoe said.
"At the moment, the target
population might be those individuals who have severe asthma or potentially lethal
food allergies."
Dr Steptoe's research has been
funded by the Asthma Foundation and the National Health and Medical Research
Council.
Asthma Foundation of Queensland and
New South Wales Chief Executive Officer Dr Peter Anderson said more than two
million Australians have asthma, and current statistics show that more than
half of those are regularly burdened with symptoms of the disease.
"Even though there are
effective treatments available for the vast majority, patients face a number of
obstacles and challenges in their self-management practices," Dr Anderson
said.
"The Foundation welcomes the
findings of this research and looks forward to a day in the future when a safe
one-off treatment may be available that has the potential to eliminate any
experience of asthma in vulnerable patients."
The research is published in JCI
Insight.
Story Source:
Materials provided by University
of Queensland. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.
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