Researchers Successfully Prevent Peanut Allergic Reactions in Mice

Peanuts cause severe, sometimes fatal, reactions in an estimated 1.1 percent of the global population.

“Our approach is unique because our inhibitor starts working before the allergen has a chance to trigger an allergic reaction,” said Başar Bilgiçer, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, “Our collaboration with Dr. Mark Kaplan at Indiana University School of Medicine and Dr. Scott Smith at Vanderbilt University Medical Center made the development of these inhibitors possible. With their help, we were able to demonstrate the potency of our approach in animal studies.”

Using a cHBI inhibitor that they designed in their previous work, the researchers prevented allergic reactions in mice with human immune cells.

When IgE antibodies and peanut allergens interact in an allergic person’s bloodstream, inflammatory mediators such as histamine are released in large quantities throughout the body.

“The release of histamines is meant to fight against invading pathogens, but, in the case of peanut allergy, there is no pathogen, just peanut proteins,” said Bilgiçer.

The new inhibitor effectively masks the immune system’s ability to recognize the allergen, allowing it to fly under the immune system’s radar without initiating a dangerous response or compromising its ability to fight real pathogens.

Sources:

Nada S. Alakhras, Jaeho Shin, Scott A. Smith, Anthony L. Sinn, Wenwu Zhang, Gyoyeon Hwang, Jenna Sjoerdsma, Emily K. Bromley, Karen E. Pollok, Başar Bilgiçer, Mark H. Kaplan. Peanut allergen inhibition prevents anaphylaxis in a humanized mouse model. Science Translational Medicine, 2023; 15 (682) DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.add6373

University of Notre Dame. “Researchers successfully prevent peanut allergic reactions in mice, blocking onset in its tracks.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 9 February 2023. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/02/230208191733.htm>.

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