Role of MBT in glove-based latex allergies - possible explanation

West Virginia - Researchers at the US -based National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health have proposed a mechansism for MBT to affect the human body. The mechanism is based around oxidation to MBTS, and thence interaction with protein molecules.

The data suggest that the critical functional group on MBT is the thiol, and haptenation is via the formation of mixed disulphides between the thiol group on MBT and a protein sulfhydryl group.

in the report, published on the ACS website, the researchers say, " One of the latex accelerants known to cause latex allergies culminating in allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) is 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (MBT), an important industrial chemical with an annual production of approximately 40 000 tonnes in Europe and more than 1 million pounds (453 tonnes) in the United States.

MBT is a relatively small olecule, and such small molecules are generally recognised not to affect the human immune syst5em. However, the observed allergic response suggests that the MBT molecule somehow attches itself to a larger protein, and this combined molecule can affect the immune system. The new research [proposes a mechanism for this.

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Academic paper from ACS