People With Allergies May Have Lower Risk of Brain Tumors

Written by Emily Caldwell. Posted in Allergy, Asthma and Immunology

New study strengthens scientists’ belief that something about having allergies or a related factor lowers the risk for this cancer

COLUMBUS, Ohio - New research adds to the growing body of evidence suggesting that there’s a link between allergies and reduced risk of a serious type of cancer that starts in the brain. This study suggests the reduced risk is stronger among women than men, although men with certain allergy profiles also have a lower tumor risk.

The study also strengthens scientists’ belief that something about having allergies or a related factor lowers the risk for this cancer. Because these tumors, called glioma, have the potential to suppress the immune system to allow them to grow, researchers have never been sure whether allergies reduce cancer risk or if, before diagnosis, these tumors interfere with the hypersensitive immune response to allergens.

Scientists conducting this study were able to analyze stored blood samples that were taken from patients decades before they were diagnosed with glioma. Men and women whose blood samples contained allergy-related antibodies had an almost 50 percent lower risk of developing glioma 20 years later compared to people without signs of allergies.

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Learning How Gut Bacteria Influence Health: Scientists Crack Sparse Genome of Microbe Linked to Autoimmunity

Written by New York University School of Medicine. Posted in Allergy, Asthma and Immunology

Scientists have deciphered the genome of a bacterium implicated as a key player in regulating the immune system of mice

The genomic analysis provides the first glimpse of its unusually sparse genetic blueprint and offers hints about how it may activate a powerful immune response that protects mice from infection but also spurs harmful inflammation.

The researchers, led by Dan Littman, the Helen L. and Martin S. Kimmel Professor of Molecular Immunology at NYU School of Medicine and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, and Ivaylo Ivanov, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center, published their findings in the September 15, 2011, issue of Cell Host and Microbe. The study suggests that the gut-dwelling microorganism, named segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB), is genetically distinct from all 1,200 bacterial genomes studied so far, reflecting its relatively unique role in the gut.

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Mold exposure in infancy increases asthma risk

Written by University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center. Posted in Allergy, Asthma and Immunology

Infants who live in "moldy” homes are three times more likely to develop asthma

Gurjit-Khurana-Hershey-MD Infants who live in "moldy” homes are three times more likely to develop asthma by age 7, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s.

Results were published in the August 2011 edition of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).

Researchers analyzed seven years of data on 176 children to evaluate the effects of early mold exposure.

"Early life exposure to mold seems to play a critical role in childhood asthma development,” says Tiina Reponen, PhD, the study’s lead author and UC professor of environmental health. "Genetic factors are also important, since infants whose parents have allergies or asthma are at the greatest risk of developing asthma.”

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