New understanding of a receptor key to allergic responses and anaphylaxis in conditions like asthma could offer a new treatment target for sufferers of a variety of conditions.

This the promise of a study by researchers from China's Shenzhen and Wuhan universities, which have identified a mechanism that sustains the release of allergy-stimulating molecules from cells.

Allergic conditions like asthma (affecting around 28 million people in the US) and eczema (31.6 million) have been on the rise in recent decades.

The diseases are triggered by a type of white blood cell called mast cells, which release inflammatory molecules that promote allergic responses and create symptoms like itching, swelling and difficulty breathing.

Allergic reactions begin when antibodies called 'lgE' produced by

See Full Page