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I have previously posted discussions on relationships between food allergy,
transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), celiac disease, and L.
paracasei bacteria.  See:

http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind0501e&L=celiac&P=2666
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind0502a&L=celiac&P=164
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind0502a&L=celiac&P=9694
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?A2=ind0502a&L=celiac&P=9818

Now a new study provides additional evidence that TGF-beta suppresses food
allergy. Probiotics which stimulate TGF-beta production, such as certain
species of L. paracasei, are, thus, an attractive means to suppress
allergies.

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Int Immunol. 2005 Apr 18; [Epub ahead of print]

Suppression of serum IgE response and systemic anaphylaxis in a food
allergy model by orally administered high-dose TGF-{beta}

Okamoto A, Kawamura T, Kanbe K, Kanamaru Y, Ogawa H, Okumura K, Nakao A.

Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Yamanashi,
1110, Shimokato, Tamaho, Yamanashi 409-3898, Japan; Department of
Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University
of Yamanashi, 1110, Shimokato, Tamaho, Yamanashi 409-3898, Japan.

Some epidemiological or association studies suggest that transforming
growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) in breast milk may be a decisive factor in
diminishing the risk of allergic diseases during infancy. The observations
have prompted us to investigate whether TGF-beta, when taken orally, can
affect allergic immune responses. Repeated high-dose ovalbumin peptide
(OVA) feeding was previously reported to induce OVA-specific IgE production
and an anaphylactic reaction after intravenous challenge of OVA in OVA-TCR
transgenic mice, which might represent a model for food allergy. By using
this model, we showed here that oral administration of high-dose TGF-beta
simultaneously with OVA feeding significantly inhibited the OVA-specific
IgE elevation and anaphylactic reaction in OVA-TCR transgenic DO11.10 mice.
These effects were associated with suppression of OVA-specific IL-4
production and GATA-3 expression and with up-regulation of IFN-gamma
production and T-bet expression by splenocytes. Intra-peritoneal injection
of anti-TGF-beta-neutralizing antibody abolished the inhibitory effects of
orally administered TGF-beta on the serum IgE response and anaphylactic
reaction after OVA feeding in DO11.10 mice. Interestingly, oral
administration of high-dose TGF-beta suppressed activation-induced T cell
death induced by OVA feeding in DO11.10 mice. We thus conclude that TGF-
beta, when taken orally at high dose, has the capacity to modulate a food
allergy-related reaction, at least in part, through its systemic activity.

PMID: 15837712 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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