An unexpected side effect of blood cancer treatment
Bone marrow transplant relieved the child of peanut allergy
"It has previously been proven that bone marrow and liver transplantation can transfer peanut allergy from the donor to the recipient. However, in the course of our study, we saw a rare case when transplantation, on the contrary, cured the recipient of it," says allergist Yong Luo, one of the authors of the study, whose words are quoted in the message (The great disappearing act: Bone marrow receiver cured of allergy – VM).
Peanut allergy is one of the most common types of food reactions: according to ACAAI, about 400 thousand school-age children suffer from it in the United States. Scientists are looking for ways to "defeat" it, but until now such an allergy was considered incurable. Nevertheless, a ten-year-old boy with acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a malignant disease of the hematopoietic system, soon after bone marrow transplantation completely got rid of it.
Scientists, having received such an unexpected result, conducted a procedure of food provocations: the patient ate a small amount of peanuts, and allergists monitored his condition and noted any deviations in his well-being. This test confirmed that the child really stopped suffering from allergies, first discovered in him at the age of one and a half years.
"Food allergy is associated with increased production of immunoglobulin E (antibodies responsible for the development of allergic reactions) in the body. This case, like previous studies, shows that genetic modification at an early stage of the development of immune cells in the bone marrow can play a big role in the appearance of allergies," the authors are quoted as saying in the message.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru08.11.2013