Feb 07, 2002 (Health Media Ltd) - Researchers at the University of Melbourne have worked with a protein from ryegrass - one of the most potent allergens known. The team modified the gene responsible for the protein's production to create a new protein with a significantly reduced allergic response, yet still capable of priming a person's immune system against the allergen. To treat severe allergies, patients are often given minute amounts of a crude extract of the allergen they are allergic too - a treatment called immunotherapy. However, since its introduction in 1911, immunotherapy has attracted criticism because it carries a significant risk of life-threatening side effects, including anaphylactic shock in which the body becomes hypersensitive to an allergen. The researchers say the immunological mechanisms of the human body are still largely unknown and there has been no way of controlling the contents of allergen containing extracts. But in skin-prick tests the new ryegrass protein was found to be a significantly safer and more effective alternative to the current immunotherapy used to treat grass pollen allergies, they say. Joint-lead researcher, Associate Professor Dr Prem Bhalla, said, "The modified protein, delivered to a patient in its pure form without other contaminants, reduces the risk of a patient going into anaphylactic shock by a possible factor of 10 and increases the efficacy of immunotherapy." The researchers say the modified protein could be produced in large quantities to provide a potential vaccine for 90 per cent of hay fever sufferers for whom grass pollen is the main problem.

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