We think of asthma and other allergic diseases as unnecessary aberrant immune responses that do more harm than good. However, new evidence by an international team led by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine shows that some allergic reactions provide necessary protection against highly invasive and potentially lethal infectious agents, such as yeast.
Working with an animal model of yeast-triggered asthma commonly observed in people, the researchers uncovered a molecular mechanism by which yeast activates platelets to mediate an allergic immune response that clears yeast from the lungs. In the absence of platelets, yeast can invade and lead to a quick, deadly outcome.
