New research ignites hope for an allergy-free future

The human body’s immune system has a mind of its own, capable of distinguishing good substances from bad, and tolerating foods while attacking pathogens. However, the system does have its flaws, defending the body against harmless food, thereby triggering allergic reactions.

In a study conducted on mice at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, researchers identified a group of immune cells – the RORγt+ dendritic cells – that prevented an attack on the harmless food particles, and observed that the absence of these caused gut inflammation and an allergic response to food. When the laboratory mice were exposed to ovalbumin, a protein in egg whites, those lacking these cells showed allergic reactions, including lung inflammation.

So this begs the questions: can the presence of the RORγt+ dendritic cells, which was discovered back in 2023 by the same team, enhance tolerance against allergens? Patrick Rodrigues, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar and co-author of the study suggests its possibility.

“By removing RORγt+ dendritic cells from the gut in mice, we broke tolerance to food allergens. The discovery is now inspiring us to see if we can do the opposite: prevent food allergies by supporting the activity of this cell population. Because RORγt+ dendritic cells are found in people, our finding presents an exciting new possibility to manage food allergies and other gut-related immune diseases such as celiac disease or inflammatory bowel disease,” Rodrigues said.

“Targeting the activity of RORγt+ dendritic cells has the potential to work even further upstream to prevent an immune response from first being triggered,” said Shitong Wu, an MD/PhD student, also a co-author. “If that proves to be true, a therapy supporting the activity of this small population of cells might offer lasting tolerance to food allergens.”

 

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