Microbial Regulation of Allergic Responses to Food

Overview

Journal Semin Immunopathol

Publisher Springer

Specialties Allergy & Immunology
Pathology

Date 2012 Sep 4

PMID 22941410

Citations 26

Authors

Taylor Feehley

Andrew T Stefka

Severine Cao

Cathryn R Nagler

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The incidence of food allergy in developed countries is rising at a rate that cannot be attributed to genetic variation alone. In this review, we discuss the environmental factors that may contribute to the increasing prevalence of potentially fatal anaphylactic responses to food. Decreased exposure to enteric infections due to advances in vaccination and sanitation, along with the adoption of high-fat (Western) diets, antibiotic use, Cesarean birth, and formula feeding of infants, have all been implicated in altering the enteric microbiome away from its ancestral state. This collection of resident commensal microbes performs many important physiological functions and plays a central role in the development of the immune system. We hypothesize that alterations in the microbiome interfere with immune system maturation, resulting in impairment of IgA production, reduced abundance of regulatory T cells, and Th2-skewing of baseline immune responses which drive aberrant responses to innocuous (food) antigens.

Citing Articles

Amelioration Effect of ZW3 on Ovalbumin-Induced Allergic Symptoms in BALB/c Mice.

Xu H, Duan X, Wang Y, Geng W Foods. 2025; 14(1.

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Alteration of Intestinal Microbiota Composition in Oral Sensitized C3H/HeJ Mice Is Associated With Changes in Dendritic Cells and T Cells in Mesenteric Lymph Nodes.

Zhou C, Chen L, Lu R, Ma W, Xiao R Front Immunol. 2021; 12:631494.

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Acceptive Immunity: The Role of Fucosylated Glycans in Human Host-Microbiome Interactions.

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Garlic lowers blood pressure in hypertensive subjects, improves arterial stiffness and gut microbiota: A review and meta-analysis.

Ried K Exp Ther Med. 2020; 19(2):1472-1478.

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Immune Activation in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders.

Burns G, Pryor J, Holtmann G, Walker M, Talley N, Keely S Gastroenterol Hepatol (N Y). 2019; 15(10):539-548.

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