A dietary intervention with non-digestible oligosaccharides and partial hydrolysed whey protein prevents the onset of food allergic symptoms in mice

Strategies to prevent food allergy to common food such as cow's milk are important because there is no causal treatment available yet. Oral tolerance induction is of great importance for allergy prevention which is strongly dependent on allergen exposure and proper immune environment. Improving the efficacy of oral tolerance with adjuvants is a promising new strategy. In the current study, we investigated non-digestible oligosaccharides (NDO) on their capacity to enhance oral tolerance induced by partial hydrolyzed whey protein (pWH). Mice were treated orally with PBS, pWH, NDO or pWH + NDO for 6 days and subsequently fed a control diet while sensitized to whey protein. Acute allergic skin responses and mast cell activation were measured after whey challenge. pWH + NDO prevented acute allergic skin responses, mast cell activation and induced lower whey-specific IgE compared to NDO fed mice. In mice supplemented with either pWH or NDO, respectively Foxp3+ regulatory T-cells or galectin-9 were enhanced. Increased CD103+ dendritic cells percentages were measured in the mesenteric lymph nodes of mice treated with pWH + NDO. These data show the capacity of NDO, if combined with a pWH, to prevent the onset of allergic symptoms. NDO could act as adjuvant in preventing allergic responses to harmless food proteins.

Harmless food proteins such as cow's milk proteins derived whey proteins can cause allergy when the body fails to develop oral tolerance. Preventing cow's milk allergy by restoring oral tolerance is of interest for infants at risk for developing allergic diseases. In this manuscript, we describe that non-digestible oligosaccharides (NDO), which resemble structural and functional properties of human milk oligosaccharides, prevent the onset of allergic symptoms, if applied in combination with a processed cow's milk protein. These data imply that NDO could act as adjuvant in preventing allergic responses by supporting oral tolerance to harmless food proteins like cow's milk.159