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Patients & Consumers Conditions En Español Find an Allergist / Immunologist Just for Kids New Research Parent Resources Pollen Levels Publications Request a Speaker School Tools Seniors The Virtual Allergist™ Treatments Donate Now Search by Condition (A-Z) Search by Topic Allergy & Asthma Issues Educational Brochures Elements of Allergy and Asthma Order Public Education Materials Allergy Shots Drug Guide Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT)		New Research - July 2009 Back to bacterial vaccine? Dr. Barnes has written a very provocative review article about intrinsic or nonallergic asthma. In that article, he notes several characteristics of intrinsic asthma which suggests that an IgE mediated mechanism may underlie its pathogenesis, in spite of negative searches for allergens operative in the production of symptoms (negative skin and in vitro tests). The similarities between allergic and intrinsic asthma that he notes are: TH-2 profile to the inflammation Mast cell activation Eosinophilia Presence of IgE synthesis in bronchial mucosa He postulates that this inflammatory response is due to the presence of bacterial superantigens. Such superantigens can lead to the production of class switch in the local B cells resulting in polyclonal IgE production. Superantigen also can cause clonal expansion of T cells that could result in a TH-2 cytokine mediated inflammatory response. This intriguing explanation is consistent with the fact that in many intrinsic asthmatics there is an unexplainable elevation of IgE in the serum. Reference Author: Barnes PJ. Intrinsic asthma: not so different from allergic asthma but driven by superantigens? Clinical and Experimental Allergy 39(8):1145-1151, August 2009.   <back>
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