New 'vaccine' can reduce asthma symptoms in mice

US researchers have developed a ‘vaccine’ that successfully reduced allergic reactions in mice with asthma for up to a year after treatment.

Asthma triggered by allergies is a chronic condition that causes inflammation and narrowing of the airways. It affects millions worldwide and can lead to serious breathing difficulties.

Current vaccines (allergy immunotherapies) require repeated exposure to allergens, which can risk severe reactions, but this new approach alters the structure of the allergens to avoid triggering the usual immune response.

The team from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering and New York University, attached a sugar molecule to the surface of the allergen turning it into what is called a tolerogen that the body recognises as non-threatening.

Mice with allergies to egg or dust mite proteins received just two intravenous doses of the tolerogen, one week apart. In allergic mice, the vaccine reduced airway inflammation and mucus production—key symptoms of asthma—for a full year with no further treatment, according to the study published in Science Translational Medicine.

The research team is now exploring similar vaccines for food allergies, including peanut and milk.