Pony allergy study

A STUDY involving Shetland ponies has offered details on how humans might be able to prevent allergic reactions in the future.

A team of scientists from the University of Edinburgh examined 20 ponies and their reaction to midge bites.

They discovered – for the first time – that the horse immune system can react in a way that actually prevents allergies.

The famed Shetland animals were used in the study because their response to midge bites is similar to the reactions of humans with allergies.

A number of the ponies developed itching, but some blocked out an allergic reaction due to the release of the cytokine INF-gamma.

It is hoped that the study will enable scientists to transfer the knowledge to human biology.

The research, which was carried out in the Netherlands, was published in the journal Plos One.

Dr Dietmar Zaiss from Edinburgh University’s school of biological sciences commented: “To our knowledge, this is the very first study of a natural allergic disease in which we can show that immune responses to allergens can take two directions, either leading to allergy or to tolerance.

“We believe this finding could have direct practical implications, for example by helping immune responses to choose the ‘right’ direction in individuals who we would like to protect from developing occupation-associated allergies.”