Preventive Effects of Probiotics and Prebiotics in Food Allergy: Potentials and Promise

Abstract

The significant increase in food allergy severity and prevalence stresses the need for efficient preventive strategies to reduce life-threatening allergic reactions, particularly among children. At present, there is no cure for food allergy and the eviction of triggers remains the main preventive strategy. The gut microbiome was found to play a key role in the development and pathogenesis of food allergy, opening new therapeutic possibilities. Differences in gut microbiomes were reported between allergic and healthy individuals, suggesting that imbalances in the gut microbial environment likely precede the development of food allergy. The administration of probiotics and prebiotics has been proposed as a safe non-allergen specific therapy with promising outcomes for food allergy treatment. Although numerous studies support the effective role of the probiotics and prebiotics against different allergy conditions, these beneficial impacts appeared to be highly strain specific and particularly observed in pediatric studies. This chapter tries to address the potentials of prebiotics and probiotics in the prevention or treatment of food allergy in the light of preclinical and clinical investigations.