Study: Allergies might be 'turned off'    |   Oct. 1, 2010 at
8:22 PM BALTIMORE, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say they've
discovered a way to turn off the immune system's allergic
reaction to food proteins in mice, which could have human
applications.  The findings by scientists at the Johns Hopkins
University School of Medicine provide hope the human body could
be trained to tolerate allergies to foods like peanuts and milk
suffered by millions, a university release said.  Researchers
found one kind of immune cell in the gastrointestinal tract,
considered the first line of defense for a body's immune system,
expresses a special receptor that appears on the cell's surface
and binds to specific sugars.  By targeting this receptor using
sugar-modified protein, researchers were able to keep food
proteins that would have induced a severe, even deadly, allergic
reaction from causing any serious harm.  "There is no cure for
food allergies, and the primary treatment is avoidance of the
offending protein," Yufeng