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Research Paper On Allergen Immnotherapy

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Introduction
Treatment of allergic diseases represents a vast source of global healthcare costs. Allergies affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide with the number of cases continuing to increase at an alarming rate. The study of allergies and how genes and environmental factors affect them are ongoing. Currently, allergen immunotherapy is one of the few viable forms of treatment recognized. However, an alternative method of therapy utilizing microbes may be on the horizon.
Microbiota Hypothesis
The association between commensal bacteria and allergic diseases has been well documented. The hygiene hypothesis was initially proposed to explain why people living in cleaner, industrialized societies had much higher rates of allergy diseases …show more content…

The DCs can sample antigens in the intestines and transfer them to T cells, which then differentiate into various effector T cells, also known as Treg cells. The type of Treg cells created depends on the cytokine signals that are produced by microbial cells. Without specific Treg cells, the body cannot create important anti-inflammatory immune cells such as IL-10 and IL-22. Bacteroides and Lactobacillus species are documented to influence the production of IL-10.[6] Therefore, the presence and composition of gut microflora is important in reducing inflammatory responses to …show more content…

SCFAs can affect almost all immunologic cells to change their function. A proposed mechanism of SCFAs effects on the immune system is the inhibition of histone deacetylases in gene expression.[5] Preserving acetylation of histones located on Foxp3 promoters is important to maintain Foxp3+ Tregs. Out of the major SCFAs, butyrate was determined to have the greatest effect.[5] In specific pathogen-free mice, a butyrate-based diet of maize starches increased the amount of Foxp3+ Tregs the most when compared to acetytate or propionate based diets. To solidify the relationship between Foxp3+ Tregs and commensal bacteria, the same butyrate-based diet did not cause any increase in Foxp3+ Treg amount in germ free mice. From these results, microbiota enrichment strategies involving key bacteria that produce SCFAs like Clostridium could have clinical importance in treating food

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