HAMILTON, Ontario, April 4 (UPI) -- A vaccine puts an end to the itching, watering eyes and sneezing caused by allergic reactions to cats, researchers in Canada say.
Immunologist Mark Larche -- a professor at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and Canada Research Chair in Allergy & Immune Tolerance -- said frequent allergy shots have been considered the most effective way to bring relief to the 8 percent to 10 percent of the population who are allergic to cats, short of getting rid of the family pet.
The study, published in the Journal of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, said the cat vaccine is effective and safe with almost no side effects.
The research team took one protein molecule that cats secrete on their fur -- which causes the majority of allergic problems -- from blood samples of 100 volunteers allergic to cats. The researchers deconstructed the molecule and identified short regions within the protein which activate T-cells -- helper cells that fight infection -- in the immune system, Larche said.
Using the amino acid code for the whole protein, researchers made synthetic versions of these regions and then found seven peptides, Larche said.
"Those synthetic peptides are what we mix together to make the vaccine," Larche said in a statement. "We picked the peptides that would work in as much of the population as possible."
