Can a Protein Catalyst Promote Allergy Development

A study, published in the journal "Nature Medicine," by Donald Cook and researchers at Duke University's Duke Asthma, Allergy and Airway Center, found protein in house dust trigger allergy reactions though the protein itself is not classified as an allergen in the traditional sense."There are some things in the environment, for example, cigarette smoke or ozone or diesel exhaust, that are not allergens but can nonetheless promote allergic responses," explained Donald Cook, a scientist at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at the National Institutes of Health. "That's what we looked at."Working with the assumption that some components of bacteria trigger immune responses, “we asked if some of these bacterial components could specifically activate the kind of immune response that's associated with allergies," he said.The research found a substance called flagellin, a protein found in common household dust, was "very potent"."Typically, when you become allergic to something, it doesn't happen instantly. It takes time to develop. So we think that when this flagellin is inhaled into the lungs, it activates the immune system so that it's more likely to develop allergies to real allergens," Cook said.Conducted on mice, the research allowed mice to inhale a specific protein - ovalbumin (from chicken eggs). Nothing happened, as ovalbumin does not typically cause an allergic reaction.In the next step, mice inhaled the protein in combination with various bacterial substances, one of them being this flagellin. When exposed to the egg protein again alone, the mice showed signs of an allergic response."They became allergic to the ovalbumin. They didn't become allergic to the flagellin," Cook said.Where can flagellin be found in the environment?"We looked in samples of house dust, and we found that we could detect flagellin in those samples of house dust. Then what we did was allow mice to inhale house dust extracts. We found that when they did that, they became allergic to the (indoor) allergens that are normally found in house dust.""We don't know which allergens in the house dust are most important," Cook said. Normal dust found in homes may contain cockroach, cat, dog, mold allergens and dust mite.If you need help solving the allergy riddle, please contact my office for a consultation - 866-632-5537.  For over 25years I've assisted NYC allergy sufferers overcome their allergy symptoms