Synbiotics Reduce Milk Allergy Symptoms

UTRECHT, The NetherlandsDietary intervention with synbiotics may reduce the allergic response to food allergens, according to recent study (J Nutr. 2009;139(7):1398-1403). Cow milk allergy is the most common food allergy in children and so far, no effective treatment is available to prevent or cure food allergy. Researchers compared the effects of dietary supplementation with a prebiotic mixture (as Immunofortis, by Nutricia), a probiotic strain (Bifidobacterium breve M-16V) or a synbiotic diet combining both on the outcome of the allergic response when provided during oral sensitization with whey in mice. Mice were fed diets containing 2 percent Immunofortis and/or the B. breve M-16V (n=6/group).
In mice fed the synbiotic mixture, the allergic skin response and the anaphylactic reaction were strongly reduced compared with whey-sensitized mice fed the control diet (P<0.01). Immunofortis or B. breve M-16V alone were significantly less effective in reducing the allergic skin response than the synbiotic diet and did not reduce the anaphylactic reaction. The whey-specific IgE and IgG1 responses were not affected; however, IgG2a was greater in all treated groups than in the control group (P<0.05). Serum mMCP-1 concentrations, reflecting mucosal mast cell degranulation, were lower in mice fed synbiotics compared with those fed the control diet (P<0.01). Dietary supplementation with Immunofortis, B. breve M-16V and particularly the synbiotic mixture, provided during sensitization, reduced the allergic effecter response in a murine model of IgE-mediated hypersensitivity that mimics the human route of sensitization.