This binding is a crucial event in the destruction of the microorganisms that bear the antigens. Immunoglobulins also play a central role in allergies when they bind to antigens that are not necessarily a threat to health and provoke an inflammatory reaction. Immunotherapy involves giving gradually increasing doses of the substance, or allergen, to which the person is allergic. Inflammation Inflammation is the redness, swelling, heat and pain in a tissue due to chemical or physical injury, or to infection. It is a characteristic of allergic reactions in the nose, lungs, and skin.
Intrinsic asthma is asthma that has no apparent external cause.
A lymphocyte is any of a group of white blood cells of crucial importance to the adaptive part of the body's immune system. The adaptive portion of the immune system mounts a tailor-made defense when dangerous invading organisms penetrate the body's general defenses. Mast cells play an important role in the body's allergic response. In an allergic response, an allergen stimulates the release of antibodies, which attach themselves to mast cells. RAST RAST is an abbreviation for RadioAllergoSorbent Test, a trademark of Pharmacia Diagnostics, which originated the test.