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Emerging Allergens: How Proallergenic Activity Disrupts Epithelial Barriers [Response to Letter]

Summary

Many people with allergies or asthma don’t know what’s causing their symptoms. Researchers are investigating whether fungi that grow on plants might be responsible for some of these unknown allergies. They found that certain plant fungi can trigger allergic and inflammatory responses in animal models, suggesting they could be allergens in humans. The team plans to identify the specific fungal proteins causing these reactions to develop better allergy diagnostic tests.

Background

Approximately 30% of patients with allergies or asthma are unaware of the specific allergens causing their sensitization. Identifying new potential fungal allergens could have important practical implications for diagnosis and treatment. The authors investigated microscopic phytopathogenic fungi to evaluate their ability to induce pro-inflammatory and pro-allergenic responses.

Objective

To respond to comments regarding the pilot study on proallergenic activity of Tranzschelia pruni-spinosae and Phragmidium rubi-idaei. To clarify the research methodology and explain future directions of investigating specific fungal protein fractions that trigger allergenic responses.

Results

The study demonstrated that fungal extracts could induce pro-inflammatory and pro-allergenic responses in animal models. Ongoing research aims to identify specific protein fractions of fungal extracts that trigger these responses and determine if asthma patients without identified allergens produce IgE antibodies recognizing individual fungal fractions.

Conclusion

The authors acknowledge suggestions for improved methodology and outline future research directions to identify precise protein composition of fungal fractions recognized by patients’ IgE antibodies. This work aims to advance toward commercial application by introducing new protein standards for allergy diagnostics. The research highlights the importance of investigating novel fungal allergens from plant-parasitizing fungi.
  • Published in:Journal of Inflammation Research,
  • Study Type:Letter Response/Research Commentary,
  • Source: PMID: 41185688, DOI: 10.2147/JIR.S574267
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