Canadian researchers discover cell that may help develop cure for allergies
Global News
The type-2 memory B cell (MBC2) recalls allergies like peanuts; when encountered, it signals the immune system, leading to allergic reactions.
Canadian researchers have discovered a cell that they believe holds promising potential in laying the groundwork for a future cure for allergies.
The cell, called a type-2 memory B cell (MBC2), remembers your allergies., the researchers said in a study published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine. This means, for example. if you are allergic to peanuts your MBC2s alert the immune system and an allergic reaction follows.
“One of the major issues with allergies, especially peanut allergies and allergic rhinitis, is that people will stay allergic for a lifetime,” said Josh Koenig, assistant professor with McMaster’s Department of Medicine, and lead author of the study.
“Our immune system remembers, it has memory that we are allergic to these foods,” he told Global News.
More than three million Canadians suffer from allergies, and there is no cure, according to Food Allergy Canada. Some allergies may be mild and lead to itching or sneezing, while others may have more severe reactions such as difficulty breathing, swelling of the throat, or anaphylaxis, which can be life-threatening.
A food allergy occurs when the body’s immune system sees a certain food as harmful and reacts by triggering an allergic reaction. B cells are a type of immune cell that makes antibodies to help fight off infections. It can also cause allergies.
But it was still not known exactly how it does this, Koenig said. To find this out, the researchers at McMaster worked with a Denmark-based pharmaceutical company ALK-Abello and honed in on B cells to better understand how they affect allergies.
The team created tetramers, a type of florescent molecule, out of allergens like Birth pollen and peanuts. This may it easier to locate memory B cells.