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7/15/2025, 2:41:46 AM
https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2007/04/102335/one-lifes-most-common-compounds-causes-allergic-inflammation
April 23, 2007
One of Life's Most Common Compounds Causes Allergic Inflammation
The beetle's back and the crab's shell owe their toughness to a common compound called chitin that now appears to trigger airway inflammation and possibly asthma, UCSF scientists have found. Insects, molds and parasitic worms - all common sources of allergies or inflammation - produce billions of tons of chitin a year.
The shellfish processing industry has been plagued with "crab asthma" among its employees, an industrial hazard that attracted the attention of the CDC.
"Chitinase - the enzyme that breaks up chitin - really lit up," Locksley recalls. "It popped up as one of the most highly activated genes in response to the parasites." As the enzyme is only known to break down chitin, which is not present in mice, the scientists next exposed the animals to chitin alone, which induced tissue inflammation similar to that seen in mice after infection with worms and in humans with asthma. Chitin Provokes an Immune Response Locksley thinks that the presence of chitin in molds, worms and insects, which can all invade humans by penetrating skin or mucus membranes, may have pressured vertebrates to maintain "chitin-recognition molecules," akin to those that evolved in plants and primitive animals to trigger recognition of invading bacteria and fungi. He speculates that people normally mount an immune attack against an allergen or parasite in response to chitin, among other signals.
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https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10906963/
Pathogens causing a number of human and animal diseases use chitin and chitinases in their life cycles. Most of these diseases are caused by protozoan or metazoan pathogenic parasites. Some of these parasites contain chitin coats that protect them from the harsh conditions in the animal body or the environment.
SCOTT DUMBDUMBS — "Pol ACCIDENTALLY guessed right."
April 23, 2007
One of Life's Most Common Compounds Causes Allergic Inflammation
The beetle's back and the crab's shell owe their toughness to a common compound called chitin that now appears to trigger airway inflammation and possibly asthma, UCSF scientists have found. Insects, molds and parasitic worms - all common sources of allergies or inflammation - produce billions of tons of chitin a year.
The shellfish processing industry has been plagued with "crab asthma" among its employees, an industrial hazard that attracted the attention of the CDC.
"Chitinase - the enzyme that breaks up chitin - really lit up," Locksley recalls. "It popped up as one of the most highly activated genes in response to the parasites." As the enzyme is only known to break down chitin, which is not present in mice, the scientists next exposed the animals to chitin alone, which induced tissue inflammation similar to that seen in mice after infection with worms and in humans with asthma. Chitin Provokes an Immune Response Locksley thinks that the presence of chitin in molds, worms and insects, which can all invade humans by penetrating skin or mucus membranes, may have pressured vertebrates to maintain "chitin-recognition molecules," akin to those that evolved in plants and primitive animals to trigger recognition of invading bacteria and fungi. He speculates that people normally mount an immune attack against an allergen or parasite in response to chitin, among other signals.
===
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10906963/
Pathogens causing a number of human and animal diseases use chitin and chitinases in their life cycles. Most of these diseases are caused by protozoan or metazoan pathogenic parasites. Some of these parasites contain chitin coats that protect them from the harsh conditions in the animal body or the environment.
SCOTT DUMBDUMBS — "Pol ACCIDENTALLY guessed right."
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