A bacterial protein in common house dust may worsen allergic
responses to indoor allergens, according to research conducted by the National
Institutes of Health and Duke University. The finding is the first to document
the presence of the protein flagellin in house dust, bolstering the link
between allergic asthma and the environment.
Scientists from the NIH’s National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and Duke University Medical Center
published their findings in people and mice online Oct. 14 in the journal
Nature Medicine.
“Most people with asthma have allergic asthma, resulting
largely from allergic responses to inhaled substances,” said the paper’s
corresponding author Donald Cook, Ph.D., an NIEHS scientist. His research team
began the study to identify environmental factors that amplify the allergic
responses. “Although flagellin is not an allergen, it can boost allergic
responses to true allergens.”