Are allergy sufferers predisposed to cytokine storms?

[wotan]

I had a little brain storm last night. Given that many of the victims of the 1918 pandemic were otherwise healthy but died of cytokine storms, is it possible many of these victims had an undiagnosed and newly discovered (in 1918) condition: allergies?

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allergy, allergies are an acute immune response. Quoting from the article:

The concept of "allergy" was originally introduced in 1906 by the Viennese pediatrician Clemens von Pirquet, after he noted that some of his patients were hypersensitive to normally innocuous entities such as dust, pollen, or certain foods.

It doesn't state that allergies didn't exist prior to then, but it was not an identified condition before then. It would seem reasonable to conclude that some amount of the population suffered from allergies and that that was their only pre-existing condition. Would it be a stretch then to say that the cytokine storm is the result of an allergic reaction to a pathogen, similar to Anaphylaxis?

 

[Sammy]

Re: Are allergy sufferers predisposed to cytokine storms?

I read an interesting piece from a medical journal 3-4 years ago about this. My very murky memory of the gist was that people with allergies do better, I think because their immune systems are already in overdrive. Their systems don't freak out the way those of 'normal' people do.
However many people with allergies also have asthma, so this one may not go so well for them....

 

[wotan]

Re: Are allergy sufferers predisposed to cytokine storms?

I read an interesting piece from a medical journal 3-4 years ago about this. My very murky memory of the gist was that people with allergies do better, I think because their immune systems are already in overdrive. Their systems don't freak out the way those of 'normal' people do.
However many people with allergies also have asthma, so this one may not go so well for them....

Well, a cytokine storm is a result of overactive immune response, which is where my thought came from.

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: Are allergy sufferers predisposed to cytokine storms?

I'd love to know more about this if someone with more science than I have can provide some ideas. This rings a bell.

 

[Sammy]

Re: Are allergy sufferers predisposed to cytokine storms?

Found it!

It is utterly counter-intuitive, but v interesting theory.

http://www.chestjournal.org/content/121/4/1308.full?sid=67cf67b2-a03c-4eba-896c-e5afec94831c

"it is possible that the propensity to develop, or the presence of, allergic Th2-type inflammation could temper the severity of the innate Th1-type immune response in the lung to an unknown virus, prevent excessive systemic inflammation, and indeed be protective. "

"If one assumes the immunologic genotypes and phenotypes of these groups have been stable over the last 80 years, this would suggest a protective effect of atopy against a respiratory viral infection never before encountered by humans and reflect a potential survival advantage in young adults and their offspring. "

Also suggests some antiviral protection afforded by strong allergic background...

 

[Sammy]

Re: Are allergy sufferers predisposed to cytokine storms?

As for genetics, I believe allergy may protect against avian influenza. That is those with allergies have a tempered innate immune response to unknown pathogens and less severe illness. Th2 cytokines may cause asthma and allergies nut are also anti-inflammatory. Anyway to find out from the family clusters? Check oyt the article I published in Chest 2002, Increase in asthma nd atopy- Survival of the fittest

http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-6798.html

 

[FrenchieGirl]

Re: Are allergy sufferers predisposed to cytokine storms?

Sammy, thanks! So, if I've understood right, being allergic may somehow mitigate the more severe inflammatory effects of the defenses against flu on the lungs? Well well well. Now that would explain a few things in my family!

Should we research this subject perhaps?

 

[wotan]

Re: Are allergy sufferers predisposed to cytokine storms?

Found it!

It is utterly counter-intuitive, but v interesting theory.

http://www.chestjournal.org/content/121/4/1308.full?sid=67cf67b2-a03c-4eba-896c-e5afec94831c

"it is possible that the propensity to develop, or the presence of, allergic Th2-type inflammation could temper the severity of the innate Th1-type immune response in the lung to an unknown virus, prevent excessive systemic inflammation, and indeed be protective. "

"If one assumes the immunologic genotypes and phenotypes of these groups have been stable over the last 80 years, this would suggest a protective effect of atopy against a respiratory viral infection never before encountered by humans and reflect a potential survival advantage in young adults and their offspring. "

Also suggests some antiviral protection afforded by strong allergic background...

After reading the snippet, that is not as counter-intuitive as it seems. There is speculation that some genetic defects were actually failed attempts by the body to fight specific diseases. For instance, some researchers believe that at least one of the genetic defects that causes cystic fibrosis (the dF508 mutation) may have developed in Europeans (the ethnic group most afflicted by the condition) as an attempt to fight the effects of cholera. Unfortunately, it had disasterous side-effects and even more unfortunately, due to the trait's recessive nature, the mutation survives.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cystic_fibrosis#Epidemiology and associated links for more information.