Experimental food allergy models to study the role of innate immune cells as initiators of allergen-specific Th2 immune responses

Abstract

Although our knowledge of the pathophysiology of food allergies has significantly improved over the last years, a more comprehensive understanding of basic immune mechanisms driving disease pathogenesis is important to develop new intervention strategies. The recent development of animal model systems recapitulating features of clinical food allergy provide an essential tool to study the immunology of IgE-mediated food allergies. While immunological effector responses have been well documented, how food allergic immune responses are initiated is not well defined. In this short review, we discuss the use of experimental mouse models both to study the role of innate immune cell populations in promoting disease and to test new treatment regimens that may prevent the onset of IgE-mediated food allergies.

Basophil-derived IL-4 promotes epicutaneous antigen sensitization concomitant with the development of food allergy

“…8 One prominent hypothesis is that innate immune cell populations, including basophils, eosinophils, mast cells, or group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) represent an early source of non-T-cell derived IL-4 that favors T H 2 sensitization to food antigens. 9,10 Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a known risk factor for the development of food allergies. 11,12 Skin barrier defects can contribute to the development of allergic inflammation at multiple epithelial barrier surfaces through epicutaneous antigen sensitization, [13][14][15] a process often referred to as the atopic march.…”

Animal Models for the Study of Food Allergies

“…The main experimental avenues for food allergy research include in silico , in vitro , and in vivo models aimed at the further understanding of the nature of allergens (Hayes, Rougé, Barre, Herouet‐Guicheney, & Roggen, 2015), food protein permeability, stability, transport through the GI tract (Cubells‐Baeza et al., 2015), barrier disruption of the epithelium (Gavrovic‐Jankulovic, 2015), digestion (Dupont, 2015), sensitization, adaptive and innate immunity (Hussain, Epstein, & Noti, 2015; Smit, Noti, & O'Mahony, 2015), IgE and non‐IgE mechanisms (Lozano‐Ojalvo, Lezmi, Cortes‐Perez, & Adel‐Patient, 2015), the influence of the microbiome and diet (Barcik, Untersmayr, Pali‐Schöll, O'Mahony, & Frei, 2015), and the potential allergenicity of novel foods including GMOs (Marsteller, Bøgh, Goodman, & Epstein, 2015).…”

Human ex vivo and in vitro disease models to study food allergy

“…Reponses involve both the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system and implicate multiple organ systems. The current understanding of the development of IgE-mediated food allergies involves 2 stages: sensitization and re-exposure [12]. During the symptom-free sensitization phase, the immune system of an individual first encounters the allergen which primes allergen specific Th2 type T cells.…”