tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32683882.post116286668663274962..comments2023-07-29T02:58:08.990-05:00Comments on BioMed Notes: Asthma – the Chitin hypothesisUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32683882.post-1162866991782884102006-11-06T21:36:00.000-05:002006-11-06T21:36:00.000-05:00Re:Hygiene logic? Cockroach exposure in the young,...Re:Hygiene logic? <BR/>Cockroach exposure in the young, as opposed to an adult, might favor a Th2 response. Immunization of neonatal mice in the absence of strong Th1-inducing agents such as DNA vaccines or CPG motifs generally results in a Th2-skewed response <A HREF="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10763707" REL="nofollow" TITLE="nih.gov">PubMed Abstract</A> [nih.gov]Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32683882.post-1162866898645874382006-11-06T21:34:00.000-05:002006-11-06T21:34:00.000-05:00Hygiene logic?The observation that chitin stimulat...Hygiene logic?<BR/>The observation that chitin stimulates Th1 responses [article refs 7 and 15] would seem to suggest that exposure to chitin-containing insects would increase Th1 responses, reducing asthma, which is a Th2-mediated disease. Instead, early exposure to cockroaches is associated with increased asthma in children (<A HREF="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15121522" REL="nofollow" TITLE="nih.gov">Children's Health Study</A> [nih.gov]). As these authors suggest, chitinases might reduce the Th1 bias and favor the Th2 response, but this is a secondary effect. If chitin stimulates Th1 immune responses then shouldn’t cockroach exposure decrease the incidence of asthma?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com