The following is a summary of “Understanding food allergy through neuroimmune interactions in the gastrointestinal tract,” published in the November 2023 issue of Allergy & Immunology by Burns, et al.
Food allergies are bad immunity reactions to food proteins that don’t go away when eaten. The number of people with food allergies, like those to peanuts, cow’s milk, and shellfish, has been rising around the world. A lot of progress has been made in understanding how the type 2 immune response makes people more allergic. However, a growing interest in the pathophysiology of food allergies involves the close relationship between these immune cells and neurons of the enteric nervous system.
This is because eosinophils and mast cells are type 2 effector cells. Neuroimmune interactions help the body sense and react to dangerous messages from the epithelial barrier in mucous areas like the digestive system. This communication goes both ways: immune cells make receptors for neuropeptides and messengers, and neurons make cytokine receptors. This lets inflammatory events be found and dealt with.
It also looks like neuromodulation of immune cells like mast cells, eosinophils, and innate lymphoid cells is crucial for strengthening the type 2 allergic immune reaction. Because of this, neuroimmune interactions may be significant for finding new ways to treat food allergies. For a study, researchers looked at how local intestinal neuroimmune interactions affected the immune response to food allergies. They also discussed what should be considered for future research that aims to target neuroimmune pathways for treating food allergies.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1081120623004192
