Processes in the bronchial epithelium provide clues for potential therapies in allergic diseases. For this discovery, Dr. Ulrich Zißler from the Center for Allergy & Environment (ZAUM) of Technische Universität München (Helmholtz Zentrum München) receives the Joachim Ganzer Förderpreis. The prize is endowed with 5,000 euros and is awarded by the German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology.
Together with his team at ZAUM and the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Dr. Zißler first studied the sputum of asthma patients - standardized induced and subsequently coughed up secretions from the lower airways. Nasal secretions from asthma and rhinitis patients were also examined. Result: Immunotherapy activates certain proteins in the lung epithelium, the secretoglobins, in both the lower and upper airways. These in turn trigger an anti-inflammatory process in the immune system. This regulation has also been observed in hay fever patients. In both diseases, immunotherapy raises the level of anti-inflammatory secretoglobin to the level of healthy individuals.
The researchers at IAF/ZAUM have discovered a previously unknown role of the epithelium: that of an anti-inflammatory antagonist of allergic inflammation. In the future, this mechanism could lead to inhaled treatments and stop the allergic reaction already in the lung epithelium.
The German Society for Allergology and Clinical Immunology (DGAKI) awards the "Förderpreis für Allergen Immuntherapie" every year, sponsored by Allergopharma GmbH & Co. KG. The sponsorship prize is awarded for outstanding scientific work in the field of allergology and clinical immunology and serves to promote young, up-and-coming scientists.
Read here more about the Bronchial epithelium - Gatekeeper of the Immunesystem
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