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Article: Natural killer T cells are responsible for skin allergies.
- Article from:
- Health & Medicine Week
- Article date:
- January 12, 2004
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2004 JAN 12 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Yale researchers have found that natural killer T cells (NKT), a combination of T lymphocytes and natural killer (NK) cells, are involved in the formation of skin allergies such as poison ivy and contact sensitivity to chemicals and metals like nickel in jewelry.
"We have shown for the first time that NKT cells are required in contact sensitivity skin allergies," said principal investigator Philip Askenase, MD, professor of internal medicine, pathology and section chief of allergy and clinical immunology at Yale School of Medicine. "We previously demonstrated the role of NKT cells in asthma and we believe they are ...