Allergies May All Be in the Gut, and that may explain the rise of allergies and asthma:
Experiments on mice suggest that altering the balance of these so-called intestinal flora can affect the immune system.“After antibiotics changed the mix of microbes in the gastrointestinal tract, the mice developed an allergic response in the lungs when exposed to common mold spores,” Huffnagle said in a statement. “Mice that didn’t receive the antibiotics were able to fight off the mold spores.”
Huffnagle told the meeting that if the findings also hold true in people, they could help explain why asthma and allergies are on the rise.
“Anything you inhale, you also swallow,” Huffnagle said in a statement.
“So the immune cells in your GI (gastrointestinal) tract are exposed directly to airborne allergens and particulates. This triggers a response from immune cells in the GI tract to generate regulatory T-cells, which then travel through the bloodstream searching the body for these antigens.”
The immune system cells then block the development of allergic responses.
When antibiotics wipe out the bacterial population in the GI tract, yeast and fungi move in and multiply.
Fungi may secrete compounds called oxylipins, which can control the type and intensity of immune responses, Huffnagle told the meeting, being held in New Orleans.
Having too many oxylipins may prevent the development of the regulatory T-cells, in turn allowing for a hyperactive immune response against allergens such as pollen, he proposed.