Of Mice and Peanuts

Earlier this year, a group of researchers in Chicago made a break through in the research and experimentation of creating an animal model that recreates the symptoms of human type 1 hypersensitivity, and analphylaxis. The teams goals are to help prevent and plan strategies that aid people in overcoming their allergic response to food allergies. roughly 4% of the U.S population currently has some sort of food allergy and for many this is a serious and life threatening ordeal. The teams model consisted of using a "mixture of peanut extract and a toxin from staphylococcus aureus called staphylococcal enterotoxin B". The mixture helped the team study the closest thing to a human reaction in mice. One thing that the team observed was the the test group of mice had a higher level of eosinophils and indicated that they had more cells that would stimulate an inflammation and cause many of the symptoms associated with the allergic response, i.e. swelling, redness, dilation of blood vessels, muscle contraction, and decrease in blood pressure, all of which can exacerbate the functions of breathing and take local anaphylaxis to the acute anaphylaxis causing death. Dr. Bryce's team is on the leading edge of research to help save countless lives and unnecessary suffering.