Strong P, Clark H, Reid K
Medical Research Council Immunochemistry Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford UK.
Clin Exp Allergy. 2002 Dec;32(12):1794-800. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2222.2002.01551.x.
Previous studies have demonstrated that chitin in the form of microparticles that can be phagocytosed is a potent macrophage stimulator and promotes a Th1 cytokine response and it has been shown that oral administration of chitin microparticles is effective in down-regulating serum IgE and lung eosinophilia in a mouse model of ragweed allergy. To date there have been no studies on the effectivness of directly applying chitin microparticles to the respiratory tract as a treatment for allergic symptoms.
To test the effectivness of chitin microparticles when given intranasally as a treatment for the symptoms of respiratory allergy and allergic asthma and to compare its effectivness in two different mouse models of allergy, namely to Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus and Aspergilhus fumigatus.
The intranasal application of microgram doses of chitin microparticles is an effective treatment for reducing serum IgE and peripheral blood eosinophilia, airway hyper-responsiveness and lung inflammation in both allergy models results in elevation in Th1 cytokines IL-12, IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha and reduction in IL-4 production during allergen challenge.
Chitin microparticle suspensions have Th1 immunostimulatory properties and are effective when administered intranasally in mice. The stimulation of the nasal associated lymphoid tissue with chitin microparticles could offer a novel and natural approach to treating allergic disease in humans.
先前的研究表明，可被吞噬的微粒形式的几丁质是一种有效的巨噬细胞刺激剂，可促进Th1细胞因子反应，并且已经表明，在豚草过敏的小鼠模型中口服几丁质微粒可有效下调血清IgE和肺部嗜酸性粒细胞增多。迄今为止，尚无关于直接将几丁质微粒应用于呼吸道治疗过敏症状有效性的研究。
测试经鼻给予几丁质微粒治疗呼吸道过敏和过敏性哮喘症状的有效性，并比较其在两种不同过敏小鼠模型（即对尘螨和烟曲霉过敏的模型）中的有效性。
在两种过敏模型中，经鼻给予微克剂量的几丁质微粒可有效降低血清IgE和外周血嗜酸性粒细胞增多、气道高反应性和肺部炎症，在过敏原激发期间导致Th1细胞因子IL-12、IFN-γ和TNF-α升高以及IL-4产生减少。
几丁质微粒悬液具有Th1免疫刺激特性，经鼻给药对小鼠有效。用几丁质微粒刺激鼻相关淋巴组织可为治疗人类过敏性疾病提供一种新的天然方法。
