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Researchers decrypt molecular mechanism of house dust allergy
Many people suffer from a house dust allergy, which in the long term brings with it the risk of developing asthma. The allergy is caused by house dust mites or their excrements. But which molecules trigger exactly the reaction of the immune system, was so far unclear. Scientists at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin have now identified the house dust mite molecules that are the primary targets of the immune system when children develop allergic rhinitis and asthma.
The house dust allergy is due to a coated immune response that occurs on contact with the feces of dust mites. In addition to pollen allergy, it is one of the most common allergic diseases in Germany. The research team around private lecturer Paolo Maria Matricardi from the Berlin Charité and Professor Rudolf Valenta from the Medical University of Vienna have now got to the bottom of the molecular origins of the disease. The scientists have published their findings in the journal "Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology".
Certain house dust mite molecules have been identified as causing allergic rhinitis and asthma. (Image: Jörg Vollmer / fotolia.com) Nanotechnological investigations
The scientists around Dr. Paolo Maria Matricardi, Head of the Molecular Allergology Group at the Charité, and Prof. Rudolf Valenta from the MedUni Vienna analyzed "the data and blood samples of 722 children living in Germany who have participated in the Multicentric Allergy Study (MAS) since their birth in 1990 Regularly participated in surveys and investigations for 20 years, "reports the Berlin Charité. Using nanotechnological methods, the researchers were able to demonstrate the role of house dust mite proteins in the origins and development of the immune response from childhood through adolescence to young adults.
Antibodies against mite molecules
"The researchers discovered that even in the blood of preschool children could be measured antibodies to three house dust mite molecules (...), often before the disease even clinically showed," said the Charité. The molecules named "The p 1", "The p 2" and "The p 23" are believed to play a key role in the development of house dust allergy. In the further course, a so-called "sensitization cascade" occurred in some children, which gradually turned against other mite molecules and which is referred to as "molecular spreading", reports the Charié.
Increased asthma risk
According to the researchers, the risk of developing allergic rhinitis and a higher risk of asthma was also found in children who developed antibodies against a large number of molecules, including in children who had already formed antibodies at a very young age In addition, one or both parents suffered from hay fever, a higher probability of an allergy occurred. Last but not least, healthy pre-school children who have already produced antibodies against the two molecules "Der p 1" or "Der p 23" have developed asthma more often during school age, according to the Charité.
New options for prevention and therapy?
"House dust mite allergy develops like an avalanche in childhood. It starts early with only one or very few molecules and, in the further course, encompasses an ever wider range of molecules ", explains first author Dr. Ing. Daniela Posa the result of the study. The broader the spread of molecular sensitization, the higher the risk of developing asthma, Posa continues. According to the researchers, the current findings also open up new perspectives in the prevention and treatment of allergic rhinitis and asthma caused by house dust mites. In addition, the development of the disease could possibly be predicted in the future even before the onset of the first symptoms. (Fp)