Research carried out by Professor Tony Ferrante from SA Pathology and the Children's Research Centre at the University of Adelaide, has identified a signaling protein, protein kinase C zeta, which appears to be very low in children at risk of allergies.
Working with colleagues from the University of Western Australia and Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Professor Ferrante's research team have refined this new marker for allergy risk (originally discovered in 2007) and modified it to a simple and manageable blood test at birth. The test is far more effective a predictor of allergy than the family's clinical history, or measuring the allergy-inducing antibody IgE.
The researchers are also looking at whether fish oil supplements given to both pregnant women and those who have just given birth can reduce the risks of the children developing allergies as it appears that levels of kinase C zeta may increase with fish oil supplementation.
Source – University of Adelaide
Courtesy of Medical News Today
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