Atopic march ties natural kill cells to asthma diagnosis

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The “atopic march” from early eczema to increased risk of developing asthma later in childhood may be related to an unexpected hyperactive group of natural killer (NK) cells.  The discovery comes from Cincinnati Children’s in Ohio.

The study is part of Mechanisms of Progression of Atopic Dermatitis to Asthma in Children (MPAACH), which examined natural killer cell samples from 124 infants. Researchers believe this finding may drive the development of a new, therapeutic target for preventing asthma or reducing its severity.

An overactive population of natural killer cells in children with eczema may in fact worsen skin damage and provoke allergic sensitivity or development of asthma, according to  Gurit “Neeru” Khurana Hershey, MD, PhD, one of the study’s authors and director of the Division of Asthma Research at Cincinnati Children’s.

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