The research team of Evax, together with Universtity of Zürich and University Hospital of Zürich published a research article in “Allergy”.
Insect bite hypersensitivity (IBH) is the most commom allergic disease in horses and it affects the skin.
Allergic horses present significantly increased levels of eosinophils (type of white blood cell) when compared to healthy horses. The number of eosinophils correlates with disease severity. The more severe the allergy is, the more eosinophils can be found in the blood.
The team found that not only the number of the eosinophils are different but also allergic horses have significantly larger eosinophils with higher granularity than healthy horses. The subtype of eosinophils found in horses with IBH might be more toxic and have a higher migratory potential.
The work of this interdisciplinary team helps to understand the disease IBH in more detail and might eventually help to treat the horses more efficiently.
