Researchers Discover How Certain Chemical Compounds In Creams And Cosmetics Trigger Allergic Skin Reactions
Source: Thailand Medical News Jan 04, 2020 4 years, 11 months, 3 weeks, 6 hours, 58 minutes ago
How different chemical compounds in creams, cosmetics, and other consumer products trigger
allergic reactions in the
skin has remained somewhat mysterious for a long time. Finally a new study suggests the way some chemicals displace natural fats in
skin cells may explain how many common ingredients trigger
allergic contact dermatitis, and encouragingly, suggests a new way to treat the condition.
The research study was led by researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, the Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Monash University and is published in
Science Immunology Journal.
Typically, Poison ivy is a commonly known trigger for
allergic contact dermatitis, but the reaction can also be caused by many ingredients of consumer products and has become highly prevalent in industrialized nations.
The
allergic reaction begins if the immune system's T cells recognize a chemical as foreign. Research suggests that generally small chemicals must bind to a larger protein in order to become visible to T cells, and few chemicals do this by undergoing a chemical reaction inside our body.
Study co-leader Dr Annemieke de Jong, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Dermatology at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons told
Thailand Medical News, "Many small compounds that trigger
allergic contact dermatitis lack the chemical groups needed for this reaction to occur. These small chemicals should be invisible to T cells, but they're not."
Dr De Jong and her colleagues suspected that
CD1a, an abundant molecule on the skin's Langerhans cells (immune cells in the skin's outer layer) might be responsible for making these chemicals visible to T cells.
The study, conducted with human cells in tissue culture, found that several common chemicals known to trigger a
llergic contact dermatitis were able to bind to
CD1a molecules on the surface of Langerhans cells and activate T cells.
Some of these chemicals included Balsam of Peru and farnesol, which are found in many personal care products, such as skin creams, toothpaste, and fragrances. Overall, the researchers identified more than a dozen small
chemicals that activated T cells through
CD1a.
Dr de Jong added, "Our work shows how these chemicals can activate T cells, but since we did not do a patient study, we have to be cautious about claiming that this is definitively how it works in
allergic patients. The study does pave the way for follow up studies to confirm the mechanism in
allergic patients and design inhibitors of the response."
New Approaches For Therapeutic Treatment
Normally,
CD1a molecules bind the skin's own naturally occurrin
g fats in its tunnel-like interior. These fats protrude from the tunnel, creating a physical barrier that prevents
CD1a from interacting with T cells.
From past structural work done at Monash University, farnesol, one of the allergens identified in this study, was shown to hide inside the tunnel of
CD1a, displacing the resident natural fats. "This displacement makes the
CD1a surface visible to the T cells resulting in an immune reaction" de Jong says.
This new discovery raises the possibility that
allergic contact dermatitis could be stopped by applying competing fats to the skin to displace ones triggering the immune reaction. "From previous studies, we know the identity of several fats that can bind to
CD1a but won't activate T cells," she says.
At the moment, the only way to stop
allergic contact dermatitis is to identify and avoid contact with the offending chemical. Topical ointments can help soothe the rashes, which usually clear up in less than a month. But in severe cases, physicians may prescribe oral corticosteroids, which are broadly anti-inflammatory and immune suppressive, but can leave patients vulnerable to infections and other side effects.
Reference: S. Nicolai el al., "Human T cell response to CD1a and contact dermatitis allergens in botanical extracts and commercial skin care products," Science Immunology (2019). immunology.sciencemag.org/look … 6/sciimmunol.aax5430
