Allergy & Asthma

Common allergic diseases include atopic dermatitis and food allergies. Allergy is also a major cause of asthma, leading to airway hyperresponsiveness and chronic inflammation. An overrepresentation of the T helper 2 (Th2) cell subset and the IgE antibody isotype is characteristic of allergy and asthma associated inflammation. Eosinophils, mast cells, natural killer (NK) cells, and alternatively-activated macrophages also play a role in the Th2 and IgE-driven allergic response. Once activated, these allergy-related cells release cytokines and chemokines, promoting inflammation and tissue remodeling. The activation and response of Th2 cells, mast cells, eosinophils, NK cells, and alternatively-activated macrophages depends on the expression of cytokines and other immune related genes. The interaction, activation, and dysregulation of these different cell types are central to the understanding of allergy and asthma.

QIAGEN provides a broad range of assay technologies for allergy & asthma research that enables analysis of gene expression and regulation, epigenetic modification, genotyping, and signal transduction pathway activation. Solutions optimized for allergy & asthma studies include PCR array, miRNA, siRNA, mutation analysis, pathway reporter, chromatin IP, DNA methylation, and protein expression products.