If you are one of the tens of millions of Americans plagued with allergies, there is news from London’s Imperial College that’s worthy of your attention. Working as a team, researchers from four countries and two continents recently made a genetic discovery they hope will result in additional and improved treatment options for allergy sufferers.
The team was able to pinpoint genes that regulate allergy-triggering antibodies; this could result in the development of new treatments, as well as helping to determine which currently-used treatments work best for individual patients. The leader of the study, Professor Miriam Moffatt, says, “The genes we identified represent new potential drug targets for allergic diseases as well as biomarkers that may predict which patients will respond to existing expensive therapies.”
We’ve written before about the prevalence of year-round allergies in Florida, courtesy of dust mites, pollen, and mold, among other irritants – two such allergy sufferers here in Vero Beach, who may eventually benefit from the London discovery, are seasonal barrier island residents Gayle and John Blackstock.
Gayle’s allergies are much worse here than in their native Michigan; she suffers from sinus headaches, pressure in the back of her head, and itchy, watery eyes. “Sometimes it’s worse than other times,” she says. “But it’s always there.” She finds relief from over-the-counter medications, from a Neti pot (a nasal irrigation device) and from an all-natural nasal spray called Sinu-Orega, a combination of emulsified oils and sea salt in a spring-water base.
John was never allergic to anything in Michigan, and in Florida there’s just one trigger – oak tree pollen, that yellow powdery stuff that seems to cover everything in early spring. It was at the Under the Oaks Art Show three years ago that he suffered his first attack; he was immediately severely congested, and March continues to be a tough month for him. John is outdoors often, and if he sees the oak pollen, he wears a painter’s mask. He says “It’s easy to breathe through, and it really helps, even more than the medication I take.”
Before we talk more about the Imperial College study, a little background on genetics. We all occasionally use the word, in one form or other, to refer to the traits and predispositions we have inherited from mom and dad or more distant ancestors. “My love of music is genetic,” someone might say. Or behavioral flaws may be attributed to genetics: “My whole family has the late gene,” your perpetually tardy friend says, after making you cool your heels for 20 minutes.
More seriously, many diseases have a genetic basis and allergies are no different. According to the National Institutes of Health, “A gene is the basic physical and functional unit of heredity. Genes, which are made up of DNA . . . . tell our cells how to function and what physical traits to exhibit.
The researchers at Imperial College focused on what is called “epigenetics” – external modifications to DNA that do not directly affect the genetic code, but rather influence the activity of genes. It’s been known for a long time that an antibody called immunoglobin E (IgE) triggers allergic responses, but it was not known which genes regulate its activity. The epigenetics approach to the research resulted in the pinpointing of those regulating genes.
The Imperial College study focused on eczema – dry, itchy, red skin. While most cases of eczema are not allergies, many people have flare-ups when exposed to allergens, and there is a link between eczema and the over-production of IgE.
The study also has positive implications for many asthma sufferers, as more than half of asthma cases are considered “allergic” – triggered by an allergic reaction to environmental factors. The airway obstruction and inflammation characteristic of the condition causes symptoms well known to those who have it – coughing, wheezing, rapid breathing, shortness of breath, and a feeling of tightness in the chest.
The authors of the study wrote, “Asthma, atopic dermatitis (eczema) and hay fever are IgE-related diseases that are increasing in prevalence and are a major source of disability. Therapies directed against IgE can alleviate hay fever and allergic asthma.”
The research, 10 years in the making, was published this February in the weekly scientific journal Nature. While this study is not front-page news, any developments which may expand or provide a more-targeted treatment approach for cases of allergies and asthma should be of great interest to allergists and their patients.