Bacteria that protects against food allergies identified

Researchers have discovered that a common class of gut bacteria can protect against food allergies, potentially paving the way for probiotic therapies to treat food allergies.

A study in mice revealed that Clostridia bacteria minimise allergen exposure and prevent sensitisation by inducing immune responses that prevent food allergens from entering the bloodstream.

“Environmental stimuli such as antibiotic overuse, high-fat diets, caesarean birth, removal of common pathogens and even formula feeding have affected the microbiota with which we’ve co-evolved,” said study senior author Cathryn Nagler, PhD, Bunning Food Allergy Professor at the University of Chicago.

“Our results suggest this could contribute to the increasing susceptibility to food allergies.”

The researchers exposed both germ-free mice and mice treated with antibiotics as newborns to peanut allergens. Both groups showed a strong immunological response, producing significantly higher levels of antibodies against peanut allergens than mice with normal gut bacteria.

However, the researchers found that reintroducing a mix of Clostridia bacteria back into the mice actually reversed the sensitisation to food allergies.

The study, ‘Commensal bacteria protect against food allergen sensitization’, has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.