Modeling immunotherapy for allergy.
Type I hypersensitivity, which functions to protect the organism from parasites, is caused by binding of antigen to IgE antibodies pre-attached to the cell surface of tissue mast cells and their circulating counterparts, the basophils. In "allergy," type I hypersensitivity is inappropriately induced by protein-based foreign substances (such as pollen) or protein components of insect stings, which in the normal course of events would be cleared from the organism without causing any damage. Paradoxically, a successful clinical treatment of allergy involves repeated immunization of allergic persons with low doses of the allergen--immunotherapy. Investigation of the available experimental evidence leads to the conclusion that the phenomena of immunotherapy are best addressed in terms of the interplay among the mechanism(s) of immune memory--Th1/Th2 cross-regulation--and the physical compartmentalization of the immune system. These conclusions are illustrated with a numerical simulation.
Fishman
M A
MA
Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. michael@wisdom.weizmann.ac.il
Segel
L A
LA
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000628:therapy*; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007167:Immunotherapy; D007299:Insect Bites and Stings; D008433:Mathematics; D018448:Models, Immunological; D011058:Pollen; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology