MANY asthma sufferers are locked in a downward spiral: their reaction to
allergens in the lungs provokes an immune response that damages their airways
and sensitises them even more to the allergen.
But researchers told the BA that they may have found a way to break that
spiral by blocking the immune cells that do the long-term damage. “This is a
potentially important advance,” comments pathologist Stephen Galli of Stanford
University School of Medicine.
During an allergic asthma attack, a victim’s lungs release a signalling
molecule called eotaxin. Attracted by eotaxin, massive number of white blood
cells called eosinophils enter…
