New Vaccine Prevents Allergies and Lung Infections Caused by Dust Mites: Study

New vaccine can protect against dust-allergies by boosting the body's immune system, finds a study.

Experts at the University of Iowa created a vaccine using minute particles of bacterial DNA that stimulate immune responses to fight against allergies and dust-mites. The vaccine was found beneficial in reducing lung inflammation by 83 percent on mice that had prolonged exposure to allergens. Additional compound in the vaccine called the 'CpG' alerts the body's defense mechanism to produce antigens to combat inflammatory responses and expunge harmful foreign bodies off the respiratory system.

So far, CpG was combined with vaccines that were used in treatment of cancer. In the current research, CpG antigen in the vaccines was about 300 nanometers in size and was absorbed by mice's immune cells for at least 90 percent of the time. Researchers examined the efficacy of the vaccine on mice that were exposed to dust mites for nine days.

It was observed that the vaccine enabled immune cells to release antigens in large quantities and significantly lowered inflammation in the mice's lungs. The study holds this method helps prevent asthma and chronic respiratory illnesses triggered by inhaling dust mites and allergens.

"What is new about this is we have developed a vaccine against dust-mite allergens that hasn't been used before," said Aliasger Salem, co-author and professor in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Iowa, in a news release.

Dust mites thrive in warm, dark and moist environment and feed on dander and dead skin cells. People who live in dusty and dirty environment are at risk of developing asthma, allergies and eczema.  According to the study reports, dust mites are present in 84 percent of the households in the U.S. and nearly 45 percent of people who are sensitive to dust and allergens suffer from asthma attacks.

The authors believe further investigation is needed before testing the vaccine on humans.

The National Institutes of Health and the American Cancer Society funded the research. More information is available online in the journal of American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.