ECARF/ADF Research Prize 2010 awarded to leading young allergy researchers from Freiburg and Marburg

Dr. Stefanie Kunz of Freiburg and Marburg’s Christian Möbs are the recipients of this year’s ECARF/ADF research prize. The European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF) and the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dermatologische Forschung (Dermatological Research Consortium, ADF) awarded the prize, endowed with 5000 Euro, at the 37th Annual Conference of the ADF in Lübeck in February. The best conference presentations in the field of allergies are honoured with the ECARF/ADF research prize each year.

Messenger molecule Interleukin-10

Dr. Stefanie Kunz and her colleagues in Prof. Dr. Thilo Jakob’s allergology research group at the Universitäts-Hautklinik (university skin clinic) in Freiburg study the fundamental mechanisms of specific immunotherapy in the treatment of allergies. Allergies are among the most common health problems in children and young adults. Allergen-specific immunotherapy, also known as hyposensitization, is currently the only therapeutic approach that effectively cures allergies. Through exposure to increasing amounts of an allergen, the immune system is reprogrammed and a long-term, lasting tolerance is achieved.

In collaboration with Prof. Dr. Axel Roers’ research group in Dresden, the researchers were able to demonstrate, contrary to common belief, that immunotherapy in mice is still effective even if the messenger molecule Interleukin-10 cannot be produced by T cells. B cells, which are integrally involved in allergic reactions of the immune system through their production of antibodies, could also be eliminated as essential producers of Interleukin-10. Interleukin-10 production by B- or T-cells is therefore not the sole decisive factor in the success of allergen-specific immunotherapy. It seems to depend far more on the release of Interleukin-10 by other, as yet less intensively examined cells. These research results help to improve our understanding of the mechanisms at work in immunotherapy and thus aid in the development of improved treatment techniques.

Factors for success in specific immunotherapy

In Dr. Wolfgang Pfützner’s clinical-experimental allergology group at the Clinic for Dermatology and Allergology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Christian Möbs researches the effectiveness of specific immunotherapy, also known as desensitization or hyposensitization, in patients with respiratory allergies. The clinical efficiency of this therapy in allergies is undisputed, but it remains unclear why patients show such varied reactions to the treatment.

In a three-year study, it has been shown that various factors influence the success of specific immunotherapy. At first, a temporary increase in so-called regulatory T cells plays a central role. These cells appear to have a regulatory effect on the seasonal increase of T helper 2 cells in allergy patients. The researchers were also able to show that patients who received the treatment showed early and steadily increasing production of allergy-specific antibodies of the IgG4 isotype. The clinical effectiveness of specific immunotherapy thus appears to depend on the interplay of various factors on the T cell and antibody level. These new results will help to develop new strategies for achieving long-term and stable allergen tolerance in allergy patients.

Short biographies

Stefanie Kunz, born in Karlsruhe in 1978, studied veterinary medicine in Gießen. After completing her doctorate at the Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene (Microbiology department) at the Freiburg university clinic, she was active there as a post-doctoral fellow before she took on a post-doctoral position in the allergology research group at the Universitäts-Hautklinik (university skin clinic) in Freiburg.

Christian Möbs was born in 1978 in Gießen. Möbs, who holds a degree in Biology, has been an academic staff member at the Marburg Clinic for Dermatology and Allergology under the direction of Prof. Dr. med. Michael Hertl since December 2005, where he will soon finish his doctoral work.

ECARF Portrait

The European Centre for Allergy Research Foundation (ECARF) supports structured research in allergology as well as initiatives to improve the medical treatment of allergy-related illnesses on a pan-European level. ECARF has awarded the ADF/ECARF research prize in collaboration with the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dermatologische Forschung (ADF) each year since 2005.

Pressphoto

<- Back