Abstract
The prevalence of food allergy has been steadily rising worldwide with the highest incidence noted among younger children, and increasingly recognized as a growing public concern. The first known ingestion of foods often causes allergic reaction, suggesting that sensitization of offspring with food allergens may occur during pregnancy and/or through breastfeeding. This creates a milieu that shapes the neonatal immune responses to these allergens. However, the effects of maternal allergen exposure and maternal sensitization with allergens on development of allergies in offspring remain controversial. This review discusses recent advances from human data in our understanding of how maternal factors, namely, food allergens, allergen-specific immunoglobulins, cytokines, genetics, and environmental factors transferred during pregnancy or breastfeeding influence offspring allergies and how such effects may be applicable to food allergy. Based on information obtained from mouse models of asthma and food allergy, the review also dissects the mechanisms by which maternal factors, including the impact of immune complexes, transforming growth factor-β, vitamin A, and regulatory T-cell responses, contribute to the induction of neonatal tolerance vs. development of allergic responses to maternally transferred allergens.
Highlights
The rise in the prevalence of allergic diseases such as asthma, pollinosis, and food allergy has continued worldwide for more than 50 years and has become a global public health concern, especially in young children
Our study shows that offspring born from allergen-sensitized dams nursed by naïve dams exhibited a trend toward protection against food allergy [74], suggesting that in utero factors such as immune complexes (IC) contribute to the reduced disease susceptibility, breastfeeding is essential to induce optimal tolerance induction
OVA-specific IgA was detectable in breast milk only from OVA-sensitized and challenged dams. These results suggest that allergen-specific IgG and oral allergen exposure during breastfeeding resulting in production of allergen-specific IgA were required to induce an effective protection toward food allergy in offspring
Summary
The rise in the prevalence of allergic diseases such as asthma, pollinosis, and food allergy has continued worldwide for more than 50 years and has become a global public health concern, especially in young children. Association of high consumption Protective of milk products during pregnancy with a lower risk of cow’s milk allergy in offspring of non-allergic mothers These results suggest that maternal allergen-specific IgG antibodies may reduce the development of offspring atopy, but further data are required regarding a potential protective role of placentally transferred allergen-specific IgG toward allergic diseases, food allergy in offspring.
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