Itchy-scratchy: experiments show that there are benefits to scratching ― although it can also aggravate skin disease.
Scratching a mosquito bite can offer a moment of bliss, and now scientists know why: scratching activates an immune response that helps to protect the skin against harmful infections, at least in mice.
The findings could also explain why people find a good scratch satisfying.
Almost all animals scratch, even though scratching too much can damage the skin.
When control mice scratched, their ears swelled up and became full of neutrophils, a type of immune cell.
To learn more about what happens after scratching, the scientists studied ordinary mice that were allowed to scratch their itchy ears.
The authors’ work revealed that mast cells can also be turned on indirectly, by scratching and the sequence of steps it initiates. »
