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Belgian Scientists Inhibit Protein Responsible For Allergic Reactions (ugent.be)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the asthma-eczema-and-allergies dept.

lhunath writes: Scientists at the University of Gent exposed the TSLP protein's function in triggering allergic reactions such as asthma and eczema. The team then developed a protein-based inhibitor used to capture TSLP and prevent its bioactivity as it associates with its natural receptors. Using this method, allergic reactions can be inhibited before they are triggered.
The team's results were recently published in Nature, where they share a vision that their work "will guide therapeutic approaches that manipulate human TSLP-mediated signalling to treat allergic diseases."

39 comments

  1. Coming soon by Dunbal · · Score: 0

    Only $5000. Per pill.

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    1. Re:Coming soon by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 4, Funny

      It was discovered by a university, not a commercial drug lab. Either way, this is nothing to sneeze at.

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    2. Re:Coming soon by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2

      Either way, this is nothing to sneeze at.

      I'm itching to give it a try.

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      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re:Coming soon by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I'm itching to give it a try.

      But only if I can get up the scratch.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    4. Re:Coming soon by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      Nah, it looks like it will be a monoclonal antibody, so only around $10,000 per monthly infusion. That's the going rate for drugs that end in "umab" which is apparently latin for 'expensive'.

      Anyway, thanks for the real link, editors.

      --
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    5. Re: Coming soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What ever happened to that Wutang album? Can someone in the FBI just make a copy of it already and leak it... Pharma bro dickhead needs to be fucked some more.

    6. Re:Coming soon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is a Belgian university we are talking about. The costs for the research are socialized, but the profits will be for a private company subsidized by the same Belgian government. In return that private company offer a politician a nice yearly wage (called a mandate) for doing nothing.

    7. Re:Coming soon by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 3, Informative

      So, the same as Purdue with Oxycontin ... public research and expenses, private profits.

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      "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
    8. Re:Coming soon by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      This news is so exciting, I can barely breathe.

      No, seriously, I have activity-induced bronchial asthma.

      --
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    9. Re:Coming soon by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      Only $5000. Per pill.

      Americans will have to wait until it goes off patent. Then it will be marked up to $6000 per pill by whoever is able to game the FDA import regs, but we will then be able to smuggle in the generic version at its low world price.

    10. Re:Coming soon by staalmannen · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I am not on this study but it is a close colleague of mine (in the same lab) that has made the TSLP trap. It is NOT an antibody. Basically, he fused the extracellular parts of the receptor and the co-receptor into a single fusion protein, which binds TSLP very efficiently and does not release it for a very long time. This recombinant protein can be produced in large quantities, so the production costs will especially depend on the manufacturing standards for biologicals The "golden standard" benchmark that they compare their fusion protein TSLP trap with is an antibody though.

    11. Re:Coming soon by TeknoHog · · Score: 2

      I hope I'm not making a rash decision by joining this thread.

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  2. And then it came nothing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They got the protein now what? Nothing at all. We will continue to suffer.

  3. Allergies by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    Yes, good luck with that American health industry. Now the wealthy can cure their allergies while most suffer. Good thing Americans are pouring so much into their health industry they're getting good research from BELGIUM. This is more important than it is at first glance. There are a lot of crippling diseases caused by over activity of the bodies allergic response, especially in childhood.

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    1. Re:Allergies by TWX · · Score: 2

      This doesn't sound like a cure so much as a treatment. That one has to take on a regular basis. For the rest of one's life.

      Should a product come to market, most healthplans won't cover it for most cases, only the most severe relevant allergic reactions that have strong chance in resulting in death of the patient would be covered. Expect a rise in the number of Athsma diagnoses.

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    2. Re:Allergies by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Right, most health plans won't cover it in most cases.. meaning only the wealthy will be able to be allergy free. Sucks to be middle class or poor in America.

      A lot of the serious issues caused by the immune system in childhood involve using dangerous drugs like methotrexate to stop the process and restart it. If there could be a more effective and safe treatment that would be awesome. Again, maybe not available in the US though.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    3. Re:Allergies by ColdWetDog · · Score: 0

      A cure would likely need gene revision or modification. Yes, it's a treatment. But if it turns out to yield a useable drug, it will sit on the shelf with a long line of 'biologics'. These are usually monoclonal antibodies (think Humira) and have been successfully used to treat a number of typically autoimmune diseases. They're harder to make than small molecule drugs and the biochemistry is pretty damned complex (read TFA if you can), so they're going to be more expensive than your typical bulk chemical.

      And there is the profit thingy.

      But insurers have been relatively good at covering them. There are some studies that show that they are so effective compared to standard therapy that even with the absurd price of the drug, the overall cost to treat a patient over their lifetime is comparable or better than standard therapy. They tend to have few side effects although the ones that they do have (nasty cancers) aren't so much fun.

      But overall, they're a real improvement in medical care. Given their complexity, I doubt you could make them for anything less that $1000 a dose (wild ass guess) giving Pharma a generous markup. But relative to small molecules, they're a bitch to produce.

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    4. Re:Allergies by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

      Read my post above. You don't know that. Some treatments are temporary and involve blocking the process for a bit so that it can reset itself. But, yeah, at $1000 a dose and without coverage, only the wealthy elite in America will be able to access the treatment whether it is temporary or not.

      --
      Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
    5. Re:Allergies by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2

      Right, most health plans won't cover it in most cases..

      And you know this how, exactly?

      meaning only the wealthy will be able to be allergy free.

      And you know this how, exactly?

      --

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    6. Re:Allergies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As usual, people in the U.S. will pay significantly more for the drug to subsidize low cost drugs in Europe. I always read about Europeans putting down aspects of the U.S. Healthcare system and they don't seem to realize if we ever came up with a solution to high drug prices the rest of the world would be screwed.

    7. Re:Allergies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'm allergic to my own sweat. Literally, not as an excuse to be lazy. It affects every moment of my life. I toss and turn at night, scratching my skin into a bloody mess. I can't go outside during the summer. It's miserable. Research like this gives me hope. I'm tired of waking up with my scabs having fused with my bedsheets. I know that's graphic, but it's a very real example of the kind of problem these drugs can solve. So far nothing helps except for predisone, which isn't a long term solution (lots of nasty side effects).
       
        Please, pharma industry, don't fuck this up for me. Make it affordable. Please, insurance industry, don't fuck this up for me. Make it affordable. You have power over every moment of my life, no exaggeration.

    8. Re:Allergies by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Pharmaceutical companies exist to make a profit, because of capitalism. Capitalism is an extension of the 'law of the jungle'. You want to change that situation, then find a way to hurry the genetic and social evolution of humankind, all over the world, so we aren't driven by hardwired animal instincts anymore.

    9. Re:Allergies by Almahtar · · Score: 1

      Mod parent up! This is a very relevant viewpoint.

  4. Re:Future humans by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

    Nope. Survival of the fittest will always be the rule. It just happens that, at this point in time, 'fittest' means those humans closely attached to a complex, highly developed society that can make 747's, moon rockets and wildly complex drugs have a distinct advantage over previous humans and those unfortunates that live in New Jersey.

    This may change at some point in the future.....

    --
    Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  5. Exciting! by ohnocitizen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Efforts to get at the root cause of allergies are exciting, and pose the possibility of treatment with fewer or no side effects (an improvement), more effective treatment (and improvement) or even a cure (massive improvement). Yet most of the comments are inane observations about how "fragile" humans are(so should we just stop researching diseases and disorders then?), "now what?" (there will be more research and hopefully practical results!), or about the massive expense, or another tiresome variation of how "this isn't news or doesn't belong on slashdot". Slashdot's community used to be insightful and fun. Now you're more likely to see knowledgeable comments and wit over on reddit. Slashdot seems to have become a refuge for aging techies with a naive libertarian view of the world, an irrational hatred of "sjw's", and a general cynicism. What a waste of what was once a fun place to get news for nerds and read comments that ADDED to the news.

    1. Re:Exciting! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't think there is a root cause - the pollen and spores are on the other end of the organism...

    2. Re:Exciting! by HiThere · · Score: 1

      The problem is allergies are problems with the fine-tuning of the immune system. Anything which massively inhibits this is going to cause massive problems...perhaps up to the "bubble-boy syndrome" level.

      OTOH, I can't tell from the summary, but this might be something that eliminated immune response against some particular (set of?) proteins. That might be really impressive and useful. But it would also need to be tuned to particular allergens that were to be considered "not dangerous". So you'd need a large selection of targeted drugs. Still a great advance.

      Otherwise this is a bit of highly important research, but it won't lead directly to anything usefully applicable (unless you want to do indirect high-tech assassination). But even so isolation of the mechanism should allow development of more nuanced approaches.

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    3. Re:Exciting! by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2

      The problem is allergies are problems with the fine-tuning of the immune system. Anything which massively inhibits this is going to cause massive problems...perhaps up to the "bubble-boy syndrome" level.

      It depends on which subset you're talking about when you say "allergies".

      The common sniffiling-and-hives branch is apparently a rapid massive-response to attack tropical worms,. You get "allergies" when this bored system decides that molecule on a plant pollen grain or some other irritant is actually a tropical worm and needs a SWAT team style response. Unless you're living in an area where there are such tropical worms AND have already been infected by them once, the system is probably doing you no good at all (but considerable harm if it has gone into "looking for work" mode).

      Now I don't know if this treatment is specific to that system or more general. But if it is specific to it, it should be really useful for allergy sufferers. And if it's more general it could still be useful for some things (better anti-rejection treatments?) as well as being the initial breakthrough leading to a burst of designer molecules for more controlled interventions.

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    4. Re:Exciting! by lalleglad · · Score: 2

      You are exactly right with the following two lines:

      "The problem is allergies are problems with the fine-tuning of the immune system."
      "Otherwise this is a bit of highly important research, but it won't lead directly to anything usefully applicable"

      As a better understanding of our immune system, and how we can help fine tune it, will have tremendous impact on disease research and finding treatment procedures.
      Allergy issues are increasing and so is the complexity of cancer, and they would both benefit from of an improved immune system, wrt. receptors.

      So, this research is hugely important and I hope more institutions are following up on it.

  6. Re:Future humans by admin7087 · · Score: 1

    ROTFL Thanks, you've just made my day. Your posts are always good for a laugh!

  7. Re: Future humans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    As long as Carl isn't my neighbor.

    My name is...shake zoola the mic rulah.

  8. Re:Future humans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fittest will mean the same exact thing that it has always meant: best at fuckin' and having viable offspring. Everything else is just implementation.

  9. The scientists were promptly assassinated by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    Suspects include a Mr Ben Erdryl and C. Tomas Irizine

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  10. Perhaps mild allergic reactions are good to have by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    to f.ex. let us know when we're subjecting ourselves to foods or chemicals that we can't stand.

  11. Other uses of TLSP? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While it is certainly good news I wonder about the side effect of capturing TSP. Removing all histamine would help your allergies but it would also be a bad thing given its use in other roles. I guess that is what multiphase clinical trials are for.

  12. No *all* allergies by gringer · · Score: 5, Informative

    This won't prevent all allergic responses. We've carried out research that indicates there are at least two types of allergic responses, one TSLP-dependent and another Interferon alpha-dependent:

    https://growkudos.com/publicat...

    The TSLP response seems to be most associated with chemical-related irritants (e.g. cinnamon oil, SLS), while the IFN-a response seems to be most associated with small organism irritants (e.g. house dust mites, parasites).

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