( rgen end of GFD binds to antibodies on ...)Novel Therapy Tested in Mice Could Chase Away Cat Allergies

Dr. Saxon and his colleagues first tested GFD in blood donated by people allergic to cats. They cultured blood cells with either GFD or with a purified human antibody as a control. Then they added the cat protein that triggers allergic reactions to all the blood cell cultures.

“We measured more than 90 percent less histamine in the cultures with GFD,?says Dr. Saxon. “Those results suggested that GFD successfully prevented the immune cells from reacting to cat allergen. The next step was to test GFD in mice that we had made allergic to the allergenic protein found in cat saliva and dander.?/p>

The researchers tested GFD in two different types of allergic mice. One set was genetically engineered to have human cat-allergy cell receptors. These mice were “passively allergic?to cats: they would react to cat protein only after the scientists first injected them with human allergic antibodies to cats. When these mice were then injected with cat allergen, GFD blocked the allergic reaction involving the human cell receptors, an indication that it might also work in people.

Scientists made another set of mice allergic to cats by injecting them with cat protein and an immune system booster. These mice became “actively allergic?to cats: their reactions to cat allergen would be comparable to reactions in a cat-allergic person. Scientists injected some of these mice with GFD, and then injected cat allergen into the windpipes of all the mice, including a control group that was not allergic to cats. GFD damped asthma-like and other allergic reactions in the cat-allergic mice: reactions in the mice that received GFD were similar to the control group mice that were not allergic to cats.

The molecule has the potential to prevent allergic reactions long after injections
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Source:NIH