Increasing tolerance to contact allergens

Common contact allergies are triggered by allergens that affect the skin such as poison oak, poisin ivy, latex, dyes, fragrances, and metals. Researchers at the University of Mainz, Germany, have now shown that IL-10, a critical mediator of the immune response, is required in order to build-up tolerance to such allergens. The authors achieve what is known as low zone tolerance (LZT), in which repeated applications of low doses of contact allergens hinders the development of the allergic reaction. They demonstrate that mice lacking IL-10 cannot achieve LZT to allergens, suggesting that this IL-10driven response may be utilized in allergic therapies.

TITLE: Critical role of IL-10 in the induction of low zone tolerance to contact allergens

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Kerstin Steinbrink
University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany.
Phone: 49-6131-17-2297
Fax: 49-6131-17-6614
E-mail: steinbrink@hautklinik.klinik.uni-mainz.de

View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/press/18106.pdf

OutFoxing obesity

Obesity results from a massive expansion of fat cells. This expansion involves the differentiation of early precursor fat cells, known as preadipocytes, into mature fat cells. Researchers at Rockefeller University in New York have revealed that preadipocytes stably expressing the Foxa-2 protein do not differentiate into mature fat cells. Furthermore, in multiple rodent models of obesity they observed that Foxa-2 production is increased, in what may be an important counterregulatory mechanism to prevent the expansion of fat cell numbers. While the stimuli that induce Foxa-2 expression in mature fat cells is unknown, the authors propose that the pathways inv
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Contact: Brooke Grindlinger
science_editor@the-jci.org
212-342-9006
Journal of Clinical Investigation
1-Aug-2003