Exploration of the effect of probiotics supplementation on intestinal microbiota of food allergic mice.

Environmental factor-induced alterations in intestinal microbiota have been demonstrated to be associated with increasing prevalence of food allergy. However, it is not clear to what extent oral administration of probiotics can affect gut microbiota composition, thus inhibiting food allergy development. Using ovalbumin (OVA)-sensitized murine model, it was demonstrated that probiotics ameliorated allergic symptoms, including reducing OVA specific-IgE, and -IgG1 levels in the serum, Th2 cytokines release in spleen, and occurrence of diarrhea. Moreover, 16S rRNA analysis showed that the probiotics-mediated protection was conferred by an enrichment of Coprococcus and Rikenella. The present study supports the theory that probiotics can treat food allergy by modulating specific genera of the gut microbiota.