When we talk about probiotics, the term Lactobacillus may seem to be familiar to most. However, they are only one of a large group of bacteria that offers numerous health benefits. Currently, scientists are exploring the effects of probiotics in preventing as well as treating allergies, including food allergies.
Findings of a new study undertaken by scientists at the Institute of Basic Science and published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology show that induction of the probiotic Bifidobacterium longum KACC 91563 helped to lessen the effects of food allergies. During the study, researchers examined whether Bifidobacterium longum KACC 91563 and Enterococcus faecalis KACC 91532 possessed the ability to suppress food allergies.
It is worth mentioning here that the incidence of food allergies has increased remarkably during the last decade. For instance, in the United States alone, there has been an increase of 18 percent cases of food allergies among children between 1997 and 2007, while visits to hospitals with allergy related cases has gone up three times during the same period.
During the study, scientists administered B longum KACC 91563 and E faecalis KACC 91532 to BALB/c wild-type mice, who were already enduring food allergy induced by employing ovalbumin and alum. It was found that these beneficial bacteria were effective in suppressing the symptoms related to food allergy as well as the various immune responses.
The scientists found that the food allergy symptoms were alleviated by B longum KACC 91563, and not E faecalis KACC 91532. They also noted that extracellular vesicles of B longum KACC 91563 especially bound to mast cells and encouraged apoptosis, but they did not affect T-cell immune responses.
At the same time, administering family 5 extracellular solute-binding protein, which is the main component of extracellular vesicles, in the form of an injection into the mice lessened the incidences of diarrhea considerably in the mouse food allergy model.
While a number of probiotics have proved to highly effective for reducing food allergies, this cannot be said for all probiotic bacteria. For instance, mice with an E. faecalis KACC 91532 intestinal populations did not show any change in allergic response. On the other hand, the IBS team found that mice with B. longum KACC 91563 intestinal populations showed remarkable suppression and delay in the occurrence of diarrhea, Science Daily reported.
It has been further found that the probiotics work by releasing extracellular vesicles, tiny spherical packets that contain protein and DNA which are released into the small and large intestines. The extracellular vesicles deliver this substance from the bacteria, which have a positive effect on the immune system.
