Impact of bacteria on allergies.
© 2011 2edeveloperteam
Dysregulation of Allergic Airway Inflammation in the Absence of Microbial Colonization.
The group of Prof. Nicola Harris (Swiss Vaccine Research Institute - http://harris-lab.epfl.ch/) in collaboration with Benjamin Marsland, Service de Pneumologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois Lausanne, Switzerland recently published a paper examining the impact of commensal bacteria on allergies. The incidence of allergic disorders is increasing in developed countries and has been predicted to be due to changes in our environment and diets leading to alterations in the commensal bacterial flora. To determine relevance of commensal bacteria on allergic disease, they utilized a model of allergic asthma in germ-free (GF) mice that lack any exposure to pathogenic or non-pathogenic microorganisms. Their results show that the total germ-free mice exhibit exaggerated allergic asthma co-incident with changes in antigen presenting and regulatory immune cells within the lung. These data demonstrate, for the first time, that the presence of commensal bacteria is critical for ensuring normal control of allergic responses in the lung.
Tina Herbst et al., Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med. 2011, doi:10.1164/rccm.201010-1574OC