Health Newsfeed # 1008
PEANUT ALLERGY VACCINE
In millions of people, peanuts and their byproducts can provoke allergic
reactions so severe that they kill. The lips and airways can swell and close off. Blood pressure
can drop. Unless treatment is immediate the patient may not make it. A Johns Hopkins team has
been working on a peanut allergy vaccine, so far tested successfully on mice. The vaccine uses
the gene for the main peanut allergen, called Arah2. It's transported into the body via the
digestive system, where it provokes an antibody response. The Hopkins team gave mice the
vaccine, then induced a peanut-allergic response in them. The vaccine appeared to protect the
rodents from serious harm. Dr. Shau-Ku Huang is involved in the research.
The important thing is that it's not only the first step, but it also provides
scientific evidence that in the host, we can modify the immune response leading towards
protection rather than a harmful anaphylactic response. :16
Researchers caution that the vaccine is a long way off from being tested on humans.
At the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, I'm Tom Haederle reporting.
Copyright 1999 The Johns Hopkins University. All rights reserved.
