How allergies rise after treatments
The research could lead to the development of a diagnostic test to determine drug hypersensitivity. Image: DNY59/iStockphoto Australian researchers have discovered why people develop life-threatening allergies after receiving treatment for conditions such as epilepsy and AIDS.The research, by the University of Melbourne and Monash University, could lead to the development of a diagnostic test to determine drug hypersensitivity.Published today in Nature, the study revealed how some drugs inadvertently target the body's immune system to alter how it perceives it’s own tissues, making them appear foreign.The immune system then attacks the foreign nature of the tissues as if they were incompatible transplants.Professor Jamie Rossjohn from Monash University, who led the study with Professor James McCluskey of the University of Melbourne, and Professor Tony Purcell from the University of Melbourne’s Bio21 Institute, said the study showed the biological mechanisms by which a person's exact tissue type determined whether they would develop the drug allergy."Our...