Allergy
The term 'allergy' first appeared in the medical literature in 1906, when Pediatrician Clemens Von Parquet noted that the response to some antigens resulted in damage to the host, rather than in a protective response.
"The condition in which the immune system reacts abnormally to a foreign substance"
The allergies are initiated by the interaction between an IgE antibody and a multivalent antigen.
The antigens which causes allergic reactions know as Allergens.
Chemical analysis revealed that most, it not all allergens are either Protein or glycoproteins in nature with multiple antigenic sites or epitopes.
Many allergens have intrinsic enzymatic activity that affects the immune response. Thus one factor that distinguishes allergenic from non allergenic molecules may be the presence of enzymatic activity that affects the cell's and molecules of the immune system.
The binding of IgE antibodies to the granulocytes inducing a signal that causes cell to release the contents of intracellular granules into the blood, a process called degradation.
The contents of granules very from cell to cell, but typically include Histamine, Heparin and Proteases. Together with other mediators (leukotriens prostaglandins chemokines and cytokines) that are synthesised by activated granulocytes these mediators act on surrounding tissues and other immune Cells, causing allergy symptoms.
