They were able to long-term suppress asthma in mice using a single dose of CAR-T therapy.

A scientific team has developed a treatment method asthma based CAR T cellsin which single injection of these cells achieved remission of signs and symptoms of the disease for at least one year in mice.

Details of the strategy were published in the magazine Natural immunology, in a paper by researchers from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. The findings, although yet to be demonstrated in humans, may represent “potential path” for the development of treatments capable of inducing long-term remission of allergic asthma.

Asthma is one of the most common respiratory diseases, affecting more than 300 million people worldwide and causing about 250,000 deaths a year, according to the magazine.

CAR-T cell therapy It is widely used to treat diseases such as cancer and may be a promising treatment for chronic asthma.

CAR-T cell treatment, whose full name is chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (abbreviated CAR-T), involves modifying immune cell T-lymphocytes (white blood cells) in the laboratory of a sick person so that this happens. are able to recognize tumor cells and fight them in the case of cancer.

This time, Ming Peng and his team developed a CAR-T cell therapy to treat asthma and tested it by administering a single dose in mouse models of allergic asthma.

They then monitored the animals for signs of allergic activity and pneumonia.

Remission of signs and symptoms

Treatment is aimed at addressing the causes of allergic reactions. One injection of CAR-T cells modified to attack eosinophils themselves—a type of white blood cell that is activated by some infections and allergies— Remission of signs and symptoms of the disease has been achieved.

Researchers found that CAR-T cells They neutralized white blood cells and blocked the function of proteins involved in the pathology of asthma.suppressing lung inflammation and alleviating asthmatic symptoms in mice.

Moreover, these cells have been observed to persist for at least a year and continue to prevent allergic immune reactions.

The authors note that future clinical studies It will be necessary to prove whether these CAR-T cells are safe and effective for use in human patients. with allergic asthma and suggest that the therapy could potentially be adapted to treat other types of allergic diseases.

José Gregorio Soto Campos, director of the Department of Pulmonology and Clinical Allergy at Jerez Hospital, says the study published today is of “high quality” in terms of basic research.

The benefit of CAR-T cell therapy in asthma has not been studied, so this study opens up “new possibilities,” says the expert, who was not involved with the Science Media Center Spain, a science resource platform for journalists.