According to a new study, respiratory allergies are on the rise in most countries due to pollution and the effects of climate change on nature. Scientists report that lung exposure to microbe fragments induces “a long-lasting immune memory that effectively blocks subsequent allergic reactions for several months.”
The investigation, led by scientists from in France, “opens several clinical perspectives in the prevention of respiratory allergies, which are increasing exponentially in most countries due to pollution and the effects of climate change on nature”, according to
“The originality of our discoveries lies in the nature of this memory, which is not in the cells of the immune system, but in the structural cells of the lung, the fibroblasts”, he explains researcher at the Pasteur Institute and corresponding author of the article, in a statement cited by EFE.
According to scientists, lung exposure to microbe fragments induces “a long-lasting immune memory that effectively blocks subsequent allergic reactions for several months.”.
Experiment results
The researchers exposed rat lungs to fragments of viruses or bacteria, which triggered the usual immune response, and then simultaneously to an allergen, finding that the guinea pigs were completely protected for at least six weeks.
But the study shows that “pre-exposure to microbial fragments provided lasting protection for more than three months.”
Without the initial protection, contact with microbes, the rats first developed hypersensitivity in the lungs, and after re-exposure to the allergen, “the increase in the allergic reaction was disastrous.”
The essential role of B and T lymphocytes in immune memory is known, and the study revealed that fibroblasts, connective tissue cells, “which support, unite and protect the body’s organs” can also be very important in respiratory allergies.
“This type of cell has an epigenetic modification in a gene [sem que haja alteração na sequência do ADN] which blocks the onset of any allergic reaction”, says EFE.
