%0 Journal Article
%T Oral Tolerance Induced by Transfer of Food Antigens via Breast Milk of Allergic Mothers Prevents Offspring from Developing Allergic Symptoms in a Mouse Food Allergy Model
%A Takeshi Yamamoto
%A Yuma Tsubota
%A Toshihisa Kodama
%A Natsuko Kageyama-Yahara
%A Makoto Kadowaki
%J Clinical and Developmental Immunology
%D 2012
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2012/721085
%X We examined whether maternal exposure to food antigens during lactation and maternal allergic status would affect the development of food allergy in offspring. OVA-sensitized or OVA-nonsensitized BALB/c female mice were exposed or unexposed to OVA during lactation. After weaning, their offspring were systemically sensitized twice with OVA and repeatedly given OVA by oral intubation. While 97.1% of the mice breastfed by OVA-nonsensitized and OVA-unexposed mothers developed allergic diarrhea, 59.7% of the mice breastfed by OVA-exposed nonallergic mothers during lactation and 24.6% of the mice breastfed by OVA-exposed allergic mothers during lactation developed food allergy. Furthermore, OVA was detected in breast-milk from OVA-exposed nonallergic mothers during lactation (4.6¡À0.5 μg/mL). In addition, OVA-specific IgG1 titers were markedly increased in breast milk from allergic mothers (OVA-sensitized and OVA-unexposed mother: 11.0¡À0.5, OVA-sensitized and OVA-exposed mother: 12.3¡À0.3). Our results suggest that oral tolerance induced by breast milk-mediated transfer of dietary antigens along with their specific immunoglobulins to offspring leads to antigen-specific protection from food allergy.
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cdi/2012/721085/