A common asthma medication has been shown to shield mice from anaphylaxis – a potentially fatal allergic reaction. The drug, called zileuton, has long been used to treat asthma and is now being trialed in humans as a possible treatment for severe allergic reactions to food.
Although many people have food allergies, it is difficult to predict an individual’s risk of anaphylaxis upon exposure to an allergen. Researchers have been working to understand why some people with positive blood tests for food allergens show no symptoms, while others experience severe, sometimes life-threatening reactions.
“Our goal is to find ways to make people with symptomatic food allergy tolerate exposure to allergens,” says Stephanie Eisenbarth at Northwestern University in Illinois.
Eisenbarth and her colleagues used groups of five to 10 mice that had been sensitized to peanut allergens such that they were expected to experience anaphylaxis with exposure to peanuts. Each mouse was given a single oral dose of zileuton about an hour before being fed peanut extract. A control group was not given the drug. Then the researchers watched the zileuton-dosed mice for signs of anaphylaxis, such as a drop in body temperature and increased heart rate, and found that nearly every zileuton-treated mouse remained symptom-free. The control group showed clear signs of anaphylaxis.
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