Teaching tolerance: using the neonatal immune system to prevent allergic asthma

Abstract

Evaluation of: Verhasselt V, Milcent V, Cazareth J et al. Breast milk-mediated transfer of an antigen induces tolerance and protection from allergic asthma. Nat. Med. 14(2), 170–175 (2008).Allergic asthma affects up to 20% of the population in developed countries, with increasing incidence. Lessons from epidemiologic studies suggest that increased emphasis on hygiene, coupled with decreasing frequency of childhood infections, may explain this rise in asthma. The present study demonstrates that maternal transfer of allergen plus immunoregulatory factors via breast milk can influence the developing immune response in the offspring, inducing the tolerant rather than the allergic phenotype. Taken with studies of pre- and postnatal early antigen exposure, these data suggest that learning to regulate responses to aeroallergens depends upon the maternal immune status, the composition of breast milk and the offspring’s exposure to environmental stimuli. Extension of these findings may, ultimately, provide strategies for the prevention of asthma in children.