A New Lead to Battling Parasites and Allergies?

MANCHESTER, England – Researchers at the University of Manchester say they are close to developing new therapies for controlling the human body’s response to allergies and parasitic worm infections.

The will publish their findings in the journal Nature Communications.

The research, conducted at the Manchester Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research, led to the discovery of a way that immune cells control inflammation during a worm infestation or during an allergic response such as asthma.

Scientists examined dendritic cells (a particular cell type in the immune system that is a first responder to worms or allergies).

They found that protein Mbd2 is central to the cell’s ability to “switch on” inflammation. When the protein was removed, the ability to “switch on” an inflammation response was altered.

Researchers hope that the discovery will lead to better therapies that can control inflammation and lead to effective treatment of it when caused by allergies or parasitic infestations.