­Novel Bacteriotherapies for the prevention and treatment of Food Allergies

Background

Most food allergies are acquired in the first years of life, indicating a critical role for early childhood exposures in disease pathogenesis. Reduced bacterial diversity and an impaired ratio of specific bacteria in infancy have been associated with food sensitization, suggesting the role of altered gut microbiota in food allergies. Additionally, antibiotic treatments can also increase food allergen sensitization.

Technology Overview

Boston Children’s Hospital researchers have demonstrated that mice genetically prone to food allergies (Il4raF709 mice) can be protected from anaphylaxis by the administration of specific probiotic immunomodulatory commensal bacteria that are deficient in food-allergic human subjects. Specifically, mono-bacterial therapy with Subdoligranulum variabile, a bacterium deficient in human infants with food allergy, protected Il4raF709 mice from developing food allergy. The researchers also identified the mechanisms by which Subdoligranulum variabile protected the Il4raF709 mice from developing food allergies. Furthermore, the researchers found that the combination of Subdoligranulum variabile with other bacteria affected by dysbiosis in food-allergic infants improved protection against food allergy in the Il4raF709 mouse model.

Benefits

• Prevention of food allergies
• Prevention of anaphylactic reactions

Applications

• Treatments of food allergy

Publications

Abdel-Gadir, Azza et al. “Microbiota therapy acts via a regulatory T cell MyD88/RORγt pathway to suppress food allergy.” Nature medicine vol. 25,7 (2019): 1164-1174. doi:10.1038/s41591-019-0461-z