allergen

Examples of allergen in the following topics:

• Diagnosis and Treatment of Allergy

  • Sometimes, the allergens are injected "intradermally" into the patient's skin with a needle and syringe.
  • In addition, multiple allergens can be detected with a single blood sample.
  • Traditional treatment and management of allergies consisted of simply avoiding the allergen in question.
  • However, while avoidance of allergens may reduce symptoms and avoid life-threatening anaphylaxis, it is difficult to do for those with allergies to pollen or other airborne allergens.
  • In effect, the person builds up immunity to increasing amounts of the allergen.

• Allergies

  • A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen.
  • Blood tests can be done to look for an allergen-specific IgE.
  • A microscopic amount of an allergen (for example, tree pollen) is introduced to a patient's skin by means of either a prick test, which employs a needle or pin to break the skin's surface, or a patch test, where a patch containing the allergen is applied to the skin.
  • Further testing can then be performed in order to identify the specific allergen.
  • Immunotherapy employs the injection of allergens in order to gradually desensitize the body's response.

• Allergic Responses to Drugs

  • Virtually any substance, when exposed internally or externally to the body, can act as an allergen and illicit an immune system response, such is the case with antimicrobial drugs.
  • While the drug acts as an allergen, the drug itself is not causing direct damage to the individual, but rather it is the response of an individual's immune system which is deleterious.
  • There are many factors that can determine if an individual is sensitive to an antimicrobial drug, as with other allergens.
  • Some factors include genetics and past exposures to other allergens, typically a person who has allergies to other things, such as various foods, is more prone to have or develop drug allergies.

• Asthma

  • Symptoms can be prevented by avoiding triggers such as allergens and irritants and by inhaling corticosteroids.
  • For example, increased exposure to indoor allergens in infancy and early childhood has been analyzed as a primary cause of the rise in asthma.
  • Primary prevention studies aimed at the aggressive reduction of airborne allergens in a home with infants have shown mixed findings.
  • Strict reduction of dust mite allergens, for example, reduces the risk of allergic sensitization to dust mites, and modestly reduces the risk of developing asthma up until the age of 8 years old.
  • The most common triggers include allergens, smoke (tobacco and other), air pollution, non selective beta-blockers, and sulfite-containing foods.

• Hypersensitivities

  • In the United States, 20 percent of the population exhibits symptoms of allergy or asthma, whereas 55 percent test positive against one or more allergens.
  • Upon initial exposure to a potential allergen, an allergic individual synthesizes antibodies of the IgE class; this class of antibodies also mediates the immune response to parasitic worms.
  • Upon subsequent exposure to the same allergen, IgE molecules on mast cells bind the antigen via their variable domains, stimulating the mast cell to release the modified amino acids histamine and serotonin.
  • On first exposure to an allergen, an IgE antibody is synthesized by plasma cells in response to a harmless antigen.

• Is Being Too Clean a Bad Thing?

  • The hygiene hypothesis refers to lack of exposure to pathogens early in life, thus resulting in susceptibility to allergens.

• Hypersensitivity

  • Immediate Hypersensitivity (Type I) is an immediate response to an allergen (a foreign substance that poses no danger in and of itself yet is treated as an antigen) that the immune system has had prior exposure to.

• Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)

  • Describe how the Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) can be used to detect and quantitate antigens, antibodies and allergens

• Coryza and Influenza

  • Coryza may not always have an infectious or allergenic etiology and can be due to something as innocuous as a cold wind, spicy food, or tender points in the muscles of the neck such as the sternocleidomastoid.
  • Coryza from any allergic causes usually gets relieved if contact with the allergen (dust, pollen, cold wind, etc.) is avoided.

• Tight Junctions

  • In the skin, they keep us somewhat watertight and help keep allergens out of our body.