Endotoxins in farm dust may help relieve allergies

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Researchers have made an important stride in understanding asthma, The Verge science and technology magazine reports.

Scientists have long known that farm kids are less likely to get allergies. Now, a study published in Science claims that early exposure to endotoxins – fragments of dying bacteria commonly found in farm dust – helps to reduce the risk of asthma. The study involved exposing mice to endotoxins, then attempting to induce a dust mite allergy.  According to The Verge, the endotoxins changed the cellular structure of the lungs, "numbing" the cells and helping them to ignore common irritants and allergens.

Key to this change was a molecule – A20 – found in lung tissue. "We would've predicted that farm dust would change the immune system, but in fact it's not working directly on the immune system, it's working on the structural cells of the lungs," the study's co-author Bart Lambrecht told The Verge.

The researchers then tested 2,000 children living on farms.  According to the Washington Post, those children in the group who had allergies also had a mutation on the gene related to A20, causing it to malfunction.

Some feel that this is too simple an answer. "We know from many studies that there appear to be multiple factors that contribute to protection," physician Mark Holbreich – who was not involved with the study – told the Washington Post. "This article adds to our expanding knowledge, yet we are still far from developing a means for the primary prevention of allergies and asthma." BF