Baby Health – Phillips-University of Marburg Study Finds Microbes Help Mother Protect Kids from Allergies
Posted Jan 12 2010 7:53pm
By Colleen HurleyRDCertified Kid’s Nutrition Specialist
The tendency to reach for disinfectantsstringent cleanersand hand sanitizers is high this time of year for cold and flu prevention. During pregnancy women tend to be extra careful to reduce exposure to bugs of any kind. It appearshoweverthat a little exposure can go a long way as a new study found it may help prevent allergies in utero for kids later in life.
The Phillips-University of MarburgGermany researchers found via testing on pregnant mice that exposure to environmental bacteria resulted in allergy resistant offspring. According to the studypublished in the Journal of Experimental Medicineexpecting mice who inhaled barnyard microbes gave birth to pups that were protected from allergies.
Microbe exposure elicited a mild inflammatory response in the mothers characterized by an increased expression of “Toll-like” receptors (TRLs)which are microbe-sensingas well as an increased production of the immune system cells cytokines. The maternal TRLs were necessary for the mother’s own protection but exactly how that translates to the next generation remains unknown.
The rate of childhood allergies have been on the rise for some timealong with new strands of illness causing bugs resulting in the propensity to keep kids too clean- the basis for the hygiene theory. According to the hygiene theoryexposure to environmental microbes conditions kids’ immune systems to withstand allergens and microbes later in life.
In factprevious studies have found that children raised in rural areasparticularly farms which are microbe ladenhave fewer allergies than their city raised counterparts. Yet it appears it is not just the child’s exposure that matters because children of farming mothers also fare better when it comes to allergies regardless of their own exposure. It is still unknown if this protection can span a broad range of allergensincluding food allergens, until then much more research is needed.
By Colleen HurleyRDCertified Kid’s Nutrition Specialist
The tendency to reach for disinfectantsstringent cleanersand hand sanitizers is high this time of year for cold and flu prevention. During pregnancy women tend to be extra careful to reduce exposure to bugs of any kind. It appearshoweverthat a little exposure can go a long way as a new study found it may help prevent allergies in utero for kids later in life.
The Phillips-University of MarburgGermany researchers found via testing on pregnant mice that exposure to environmental bacteria resulted in allergy resistant offspring. According to the studypublished in the Journal of Experimental Medicineexpecting mice who inhaled barnyard microbes gave birth to pups that were protected from allergies.
Microbe exposure elicited a mild inflammatory response in the mothers characterized by an increased expression of “Toll-like” receptors (TRLs)which are microbe-sensingas well as an increased production of the immune system cells cytokines. The maternal TRLs were necessary for the mother’s own protection but exactly how that translates to the next generation remains unknown.
The rate of childhood allergies have been on the rise for some timealong with new strands of illness causing bugs resulting in the propensity to keep kids too clean- the basis for the hygiene theory. According to the hygiene theory
exposure to environmental microbes conditions kids’ immune systems to withstand allergens and microbes later in life.
In factprevious studies have found that children raised in rural areasparticularly farms which are microbe ladenhave fewer allergies than their city raised counterparts. Yet it appears it is not just the child’s exposure that matters because children of farming mothers also fare better when it comes to allergies regardless of their own exposure. It is still unknown if this protection can span a broad range of allergensincluding food allergens, until then much more research is needed.