In article <4m2dcd$lsn at whitbeck.ncl.ac.uk>, Anne n338063
<A.L.Padmore at ncl.ac.uk> wrote:
> I am allergic to nickel in jewellery and I have found out that it is due
> to a type IV hypersensitivity reaction (Delayed type hypersensitivity).
> What I want to know is how it is that an allergic reaction can be against
> a non-protein, as I thought that the immune system mainly deals with
> protein antigens. Is the nickel acting as some kind of adjuvant?
The nickel ion is part of the antigenic determinant. A particular
nickel-specific T cell clone recognizes a particular MHC allele with a
particular self peptide (or set of self-peptides) and nickel ion as a
complex. I don't remember who presented the work I heard at a meeting a
couple of years ago, but I was convinced by the evidence.
David C. Parker
parkerd at ohsu.edu
