Soon a dog allergy vaccine?

Japanese researchers are working to create a vaccine for people with allergies to dogs. Symbol of their progress, they discovered the allergen responsible for 50 to 75% of allergies in the world. & Nbsp;

Are we heading towards the end of the dog allergy? For now, people with allergies are reluctant to take antihistamines or undergo desensitization therapy to habituate their immune system. But medicine may well put an end to symptoms like sneezing or runny nose. Indeed, Japanese researchers are currently working to develop a vaccine for people allergic to canines. The results are published in the scientific journal The Febs Scientits .

< strong> An allergen responsible for 50 to 75% of allergies

As research progressed, specialists were able to identify the seven allergens present in dogs. These seven allergens are called “Canis familiaris” and numbered Can f 1 to Can f 7. One of them accounts for 50 to 75% of allergies worldwide.

It is of “Can f 1”, present in the tissues of the tongue, salivary glands and the skin of our canine friends. Its molecules “bind to an antibody and produce an exceptionally strong immune response when they would normally be harmless,” the University of Osaka researchers explained in a press release.

Thanks to the crystallography to x-rays, the researchers were able to fully map Can f 1 and thus isolate the different epitopes, molecules that the body must know how to fight or accept (depending on whether these molecules are ours or foreign).

S & rsquo This is an important first step in the development of a vaccine, we will still have to be patient. The researchers are optimistic, assuring that a vaccine against allergy to dogs “is within reach”.