2.5 Drug Allergies
Drug allergies (DAs) may be IgE-
or non-IgE-mediated. Some drugs,
such as anaesthetics, antibiotics, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
and codeine, are associated with a carrier protein through a prototype
or its metabolite.50 Binding of cell-bound IgE
molecules activates mast cells and releases various factors, such as
histamines, leukotrienes, prostaglandins and cytokines, which can cause
extensive tissue damage. Trx1 is a stress-induced redox regulatory
protein in vivo ; thus, it inhibits histamine release by
eliminating ROS in mast cells.51 The mechanisms of DAs
may often be associated with
non-IgE-mediated complement activation. Indeed, Trx1 is known to inhibit
the activation of the complement cascade at different stages, e.g.
suppressing C3 cleavage and C5 convertase
activation.52,53 The functions of Trx1 in mast cells
and the complement system are described in the next section.