New hope for victims of hay fever

The miseries of hay fever - suffered by 12 million Britons - could soon be over following a breakthrough in finding the causes of the condition.

Current treatments only try to alleviate the symptoms, but new research by Dr Brian Sutton, of King's College, London, may have uncovered a way of tackling allergy at its root. Hay fever and other allergic reactions are provoked by an agent of the immune system, the antibody molecule imunoglobulin E (IgE).

When exposed to an allergy trigger, such as pollen, the IgE proteins combine with white blood cells, called mast cells, containing histamine. During the process histamine and other substances that promote inflammation are released, resulting in sneezing, red eyes and a runny nose.

But Dr Sutton has discovered that the part of the IgE molecule that fastens on to the mast cell is normally bent sharply back on itself. In order to form a strong bond with the mast cell, it must unfold.

Dr Sutton, writing in the journal Nature Immunology, said it might be possible to use synthetic drugs to "lock" the IgE molecule into its folded position, stopping it from interacting with the mast cell.