Signals from early-life gut bacteria about peanut allergy development
Published: August 22, 2023
A new study led by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has revealed key differences in infant gut bacteria and their metabolic byproducts that may predict the development of peanut allergies by mid-childhood. Among food allergies in children, peanut allergy is one of the most common. Increasing numbers of studies, including this latest research, suggest that gut bacteria play a role in food allergy. Gut bacteria in early life are thought to be especially important given its rapid evolution during this period and its influential cross-talk with the developing immune system.
The multi-center longitudinal study led by Mount Sinai in collaboration with the NIAID Consortium for Food Allergy Research (CoFAR) monitored infants known to be at risk for allergies but who hadn't yet developed a peanut allergy. By analyzing fecal samples from infancy and later in childhood, the researchers were able to identify specific differences in gut bacteria and the metabolites they produce between children who did and did not develop a peanut allergy by around age 9 years. The findings, published online August 22 in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI), could pave the way for new strategies to prevent or treat this increasingly common food allergy.
The researchers identified that infants who eventually developed peanut allergies had lower gut microbiome diversity during their early years. Also, specific species of bacteria, including those in Clostridium and Bifidobacterium, and certain metabolites like butyrate and isovalerate were found in different patterns in children who developed peanut allergies. Moreover, metabolites associated with peanut allergy development were linked to histidine metabolism, a process central to the production of the allergy-inducing chemical histamine.
The study is one of the first of its kind to longitudinally track changes in gut bacteria and their byproducts from infancy to childhood, specifically in relation to peanut allergy development. The insights gleaned could lead to innovative approaches, such as probiotics or dietary interventions, to manage and prevent peanut allergies in children, improving countless lives. The researchers acknowledge that while their findings present strong associations between the gut environment and peanut allergy development, it's not yet confirmed that these bacterial changes directly cause the allergy. Future studies with expanded sample sizes and clinical trials will be essential to strengthen these links.
The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI) is an official scientific journal of the AAAAI, and is the most-cited journal in the field of allergy and clinical immunology.
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