In an article published by The New Scientist magazine on the 3rd of September, 2015, evidence is shown that children that live on farms and are surrounded by a dirtier environment tend to be better equipped to deal with asthma and certain allergies.
The hygeine hypothesis states that a lack of exposure to microbes found in dirt is to blame for a large increase in childhood allergies and asthma. There is also evidence that endotoxins are important in order to 'dampen' human immune systems. Research done on mice suggests that the enzyme A20 is essential in assisting against allergies, and without this enzyme people will not benefit from exposure to endotoxins. The Dust Mite Test Bart Lambrecht and his team from Ghent University in Belgium decided to investigate the role of the A20 enzyme and allergies, and used mice to do so. They believed that A20 was vital in controlling inflammation and reactions to endotoxins as an infant (teaching the infant not to react to harmless microbes) and set out to prove it. A test was carried out on mice using dust mites. One group of mice were normal and another were genetically engineered to contain this enzyme, as well as a control group of mice which were not exposed to any toxins. After exposure to endotoxins, the normal group of mice did not react to the endotoxins, however, some of the genetically modified mice did react and become allergic to the endotoxins. In addition to this, some mice from the control group also developed an allergy to the dust mites. This shows that both A20 and the bacterial protein are needed in order to ensure immunity. In human lung cells, it was also found that patients with asthma had lower levels of the A20 enzyme than those without, proving that it is important in humans too.
1 Comment
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |