Modeling immunotherapy for allergy

Autor: M A, Fishman, L A, Segel
Rok vydání: 1996
Předmět:
Zdroj: Bulletin of Mathematical Biology. 58:1099-1121
ISSN: 1522-9602
0092-8240
DOI: 10.1007/bf02458385
Popis: Type I hypersensitivity, which functions to protect the organism from parasites, is caused by binding of antigen to IgE antibodies pre-attached to the cell surface of tissue mast cells and their circulating counterparts, the basophils. In "allergy," type I hypersensitivity is inappropriately induced by protein-based foreign substances (such as pollen) or protein components of insect stings, which in the normal course of events would be cleared from the organism without causing any damage. Paradoxically, a successful clinical treatment of allergy involves repeated immunization of allergic persons with low doses of the allergen--immunotherapy. Investigation of the available experimental evidence leads to the conclusion that the phenomena of immunotherapy are best addressed in terms of the interplay among the mechanism(s) of immune memory--Th1/Th2 cross-regulation--and the physical compartmentalization of the immune system. These conclusions are illustrated with a numerical simulation.
Databáze: OpenAIRE