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Monash University researchers have found that taking a small pill containing grass pollen every day can prevent seasonal allergies such as hay fever and thunderstorm asthma.
In a Monash study of 27 participants with grass pollen allergy, researchers found that sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) offered protection against asthma and hay fever. In addition, they found that the immune memory cells of the study participants were altered in unexpected ways by taking a small amount of grass pollen.
In an email to The Epoch Times, lead researcher Professor Menno van Zelm, of Monash University’s Central Clinical School, said the tablet would provide controlled exposure at a dose determined by dissolving it under the tongue daily.
“It has been proven to be optimal in retraining the immune system with limited side effects. Airway exposure to the herb causes many more symptoms in people with allergies, and the dose is not controlled,” he said.
Professor van Zelm said that by dissolving the sublingual tablet, the extract is taken up by cells under the tongue, which presents the extract to the immune system under conditions that induce immune tolerance.
“It also limits adverse reactions that can occur when ingested,” he said.
In a Monash University press release, van Zelm said until now the process by which SLIT stimulates the immune system to provide protection against allergens is not well understood.
“Understanding these processes is key to developing new treatments and developing ways to test whether these new treatments are working by finding biomarkers of immunity,” van Zelm said.
Study setup
The study was conducted in 2019 and included 27 participants who suffered from seasonal rhinitis/rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms due to allergies at least once a week.
van Zelm said the selected study participants were patients with an allergy to black grass pollen. Ryegrass Victoria is the main cause of seasonal rhinitis and asthma.
“In Victoria, grass pollen immunotherapy is recommended outside the pollen season to prevent overexposure during the season,” he said.
van Helm noted that sublingual immunotherapy is administered from March to September. Therefore, blood samples were collected in April/May and September outside the pollen season, which is mainly from October to December.
Participants were divided into 13 and 14 groups. 13 groups were given pills containing five different microdoses of grass pollen for four months. The four-month term began in May/June.
“The treatment available in Victoria is a commercial tablet developed by Stallergenes-Greer,” he said.
“Their goal is to cover a large population, so they developed a table containing extracts of 5 types of grass pollen. It contains black tea and has been shown to help with black tea pollen allergies.
14 groups were treated for hay fever and asthma using conventional prophylactic therapies such as antihistamines and/or intranasal corticosteroids.
“While the medication works well to prevent asthma symptoms, we recommend that all patients keep other medications on hand and be aware of asthma warnings,” van Helm said.
Current treatment of asthma and hay fever
Grass pollen allergy affects 20 percent of the world’s population; they can disrupt school, work, and the general life of the sufferer, and lightning is a leading cause of asthma.
Professor Francis Thien, director of respiratory medicine at Eastern Health and Monash University, told The Epoch Times in an email that thunderstorms can trigger asthma attacks.
“Thunder moisture releases very small allergenic particles from grass pollen, and thunderstorm air currents push them to ground level, where they are inhaled into the lower airways and cause asthma attacks,” Tien said.
Thien noted that grass pollen allergies typically cause hay fever symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose and stuffy nose, along with itchy nose, throat and eyes.
“These can be treated with the chemist’s antihistamine tablets and steroid nasal sprays,” he said.
However, he said, some people may experience respiratory symptoms such as chest tightness, wheezing and shortness of breath.
“If you experience respiratory symptoms, see your doctor to see if you need an asthma inhaler.”
According to Tien, asthma symptoms require treatment with bronchodilators and inhalers that deliver anti-inflammatory drugs.
“If you don’t get relief from inhalers and you need them for more than two to three hours a day or more than 12 times a day, you should go to a hospital emergency room for evaluation.”
Immune biomarkers
Twelve of the 13 groups that took the pill reported a clinical benefit from the treatment after two years compared to the group that did not take the grass pollen. To understand the two-year duration of the therapy’s positive effects, the researchers studied B cells.
B cells are a type of immune cell that makes antibodies, van Zelm said. They are capable of remembering immunity against foreign invaders such as allergens.
“In allergic reactions, the IgE antibody type is the molecule that causes problems.”
“The goal of treatment is to change the B cell responses to produce a different type of antibody, specifically IgG, rather than IgE.”
The researchers found that after four months of treatment, the memory B cells were reprogrammed and expressed new markers.
van Zelm believes that B cells can be used as immune biomarkers that researchers can use to objectively measure the effectiveness of new treatments.
“Because these cells respond to treatment, last long, and are specific to a particular treatment, they are a very important way to monitor the success of new anti-allergy therapies,” he said.
The importance of biomarkers
Allergen immunotherapy generally requires three to five years of treatment to be effective. Therefore, it is important to detect early whether a treatment is working through tools such as immune biomarkers so that patients can receive optimal treatment as soon as possible.
van Helm said it is unclear why it takes so long to maintain the effects of allergen immunotherapy.
“Long-term treatment (at least three years x four months) is needed for long-lasting effects,” he said.
“This means that the effects persist after stopping. It is usually limited to a few years and further treatment is necessary.’
“The bottom line is that there is huge inter-individual variation and we don’t know why,” he said.
He also said that because the effectiveness of treatment can be individual, biological markers that indicate the effectiveness of treatment are greatly needed.
“Currently, our research focuses on the house dust mite, which is the leading global cause of allergic asthma. We are studying the effects of this type of allergy treatment.”
to follow
Lily Kelly is an Australian reporter for The Epoch Times, covering social issues, renewable energy, the environment, health and science.
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