this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2025
968 points (99.6% liked)

Comic Strips

15601 readers
928 users here now

Comic Strips is a community for those who love comic stories.

The rules are simple:

Web of links

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 74 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

*Histamines. Antibodies are far less disruptive. Histamines protect us from larger invaders like worms and other parasites. Antihistamines antagonize histamines at receptor sites, preventing the itchy, red, swelling reaction we associate with an allergen.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Acktually – IgE(/antibodies) are bound to the surface of mast cells. Antigens/allergens bind to the IgE receptor and actives the mast cell, releasing histamines. Allergy can actually be treated with anti-IgE (monoclonal) antibodies (Omalizumab)!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 days ago

Thank you for the detail! I just repeated the dumbed-down explanation given to me by my allergist.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Are you sure histamines are larger than antibodies?

That's 17 atoms if I can count correctly.

Antibodies are made of proteins and should therefore be much larger.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I just confirmed. They’re only 17 atoms in size. My memory failed me. I edited the comment. Thanks for the correction!