Nanoparticles Could Boost Effectiveness of Allergy Shots
Reporter : Irina Robu, PhD
Immunotherapy is a preventive treatment for allergic reactions to substances such as grass pollens, house dust mites and bee venom. The only existing therapy that treats their causes is allergen-specific immunotherapy or allergy shots which can cause severe side effects. For many people, allergies are a seasonal annoyance. But for others, exposure to a particular allergen can cause antagonistic reactions such as itching, breathing problems or even death. Allergy shots can diminish sensitivity by gradually ramping up exposure to the offending substance. Each allergy shot contains a tiny amount of the specific substance or substances that trigger your allergic reactions.
Holger Frey and colleagues report in Biomacromolecules the development of a potentially better allergy shot that uses nanocarriers to address these unwanted issues. In order to develop a safer, cause-based therapy scientist have developed nanoparticles that enclose an allergen and deliver it to specific cells. However, these nanocarriers degrade slowly, hindering the efficiency of the treatment.
Nanocarriers offer the following potential advantages: site-specific delivery of drugs, peptides, and genes, improved in-vitro and in-vivo stability and reduced side effect profile. However, nanoparticles are usually first picked up by the phagocytic cells of the immune system which may promote inflammatory disorders. In order to overcome the limitations, the researchers designed a novel type of nanocarrier created on the biocompatible molecule poly (ethylene glycol) that releases its cargo only in targeted immune cells.
This approach could be used not only for allergies but also can be used for other immunotherapies such as cancer and AIDS.
Source
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-09/acs-ncb092215.php
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