Asthma Management: Studies suggest that blocking two immune system molecules can prevent future attacks

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that affects about 300 million people worldwide. In about 75% of all cases, asthma is caused by an adaptive immune response to a particular allergen, which occurs after exposure to an antigen.

Whenever a person with asthma faces a trigger, their immune system recognizes the trigger through memory cells, which causes inflammation. Inhalers and anti-inflammatory drugs can help manage asthma attacks, but so far there is no way to completely prevent them.

Currently, a group of researchers at the Lahora Immunology Institute in the United States claim to have discovered two immune system molecules that can prevent asthma attacks in mice when blocked.

The results of this study have recently been Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology..

T cells and asthma

Asthma is caused by inflammation of the lungs via T helper cells (Th2). Helper T cells are specialized cells of the immune system that stimulate the release of type 2 cytokines and IgE (a type of immunoglobulin or antibody that mediates allergic reactions in the body). Type 2 cytokines play a protective role in the body, but dysregulation can lead to illness.

In our lungs, certain types of T cells, called Tregs, play a role in maintaining resistance to antigens, the foreign substances that our body responds to. It suppresses Th2 responses and helps prevent the development of diseases such as lung and airway inflammation and asthma.

Several therapies have been developed to target IgE and other effector cells of the immune system to manage asthma, but none of these have the potential to affect persistent memory Th2 cells. Memory cells are immune system cells that form when our body is first exposed to an antigen. It is these cells that help initiate a rapid and effective immune response when the same antigen enters our body a second time.

However, the authors of the latest study have shown that there is still a need for treatments that can completely prevent asthma attacks, which was the goal of this study.

the study

In this study, researchers targeted two molecules, OX40L and CD30L. Both of these are signaling proteins that can activate T cells and cause inflammation when the body is exposed to allergens.

Previous studies have suggested that blocking OX40L can reduce airway inflammation, but have not shown any effect on memory responses to allergens. Experts then determined that blocking OX40L was not enough and that other immune system molecules were involved in the process.

Therefore, this study adopted a mouse model that was allergic to mites and was absent from either OX40L or CD30L, or both of these proteins.

Some of the survey results are shown below.

• The absence of OX40L was found to be effective in reducing the initial response to the allergen, but when the body was re-exposed to the same allergen, it did not significantly affect the memory response.
• The absence of CD30L alone lowered some cytokine levels, but it did not significantly affect the memory Th2 response. In fact, the effect of blocking CD30L was even smaller than that of OX40L in terms of suppressing memory response.
• The absence of both OX40L and CD30 reduced memory Th2 responses as well as allergen origin.

Based on the findings, researchers suggested that blocking both OX40L and CD30 may be effective in reducing Th2 memory cells and preventing asthma attacks.

For more information asthma..

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