Faulty gene ups risk of peanut allergy in kids--study

According to reports, scientists from Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Netherlands, have discovered the gene filaggrin to be linked with allergic reaction.

Filaggrin, which provides the skin a good barrier against irritants and allergens, is already known to be an important factor causing eczema and asthma. The study has found changes in the gene lead to decrease in the effectiveness of the barrier allowing allergy-causing substances to enter the body.

Dr. Sara Brown, a fellow at Dundee University, said investigating whether Filaggrin was a cause of peanut allergy was the "logical next step" after a link with eczema and asthma had been established.

Increase in allergic condition
Over the past 20 to 30 years, there has been an increase in the number of people affected by the condition.

"Allergic conditions often run in families, which tells us that inherited genetic factors are important," said Brown.

She added, "In addition to that, changes in the environment and our exposure to peanuts are thought to have been responsible for the recent increase in peanut allergy seen in the Western world in particular.

"Now, for the first time, we have a genetic change that can be firmly linked to peanut allergy."

What the finding suggests?
The team's findings suggest one in five peanut allergy sufferers has a filaggrin defect, which means it is not the only cause of peanut allergies, said Prof. Irwin McLean, a study co-author also based at Dundee in Scotland.

"Taken together, our experimental data from four populations of European origin demonstrate a strong and significant association of loss-of-function mutations within the filaggrin gene with clinically significant peanut allergy," the authors concluded.

The study have been published in the 'Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology'.