Radioactive tags, attached to a major mite allergen, follow the progress of the allergen from lungs to lymph nodes associated with lungs, as well as to kidneys and liver of allergic mice.
Little is known of the fate of inhaled house dust mite allergens once they enter the body via the lungs. By tagging the allergen with a novel gamma-emitting tetrapeptide, progress has been monitored in laboratory mice manipulated to be allergic to the study allergen. The lungs of the sensitized mice retained the allergen in the lungs twice as long as the healthy control mice. Radioactivity was found in the enlarged lymph nodes associated with the lungs, the kidney and the liver of the mice. Based upon the findings the research team concluded that the inflammatory rate of the lungs influenced the clearance of the allergen, thus an allergic response to the allergen may lead to prolonged retention in the lung.
Reference: “A mouse model for in-vivo tracking of the major dust mite allergen Der p 2 after inhalation”. Johansson L, et al, FEBS Journal,2005;272(13):3449-3460
