Research progress in the relationship between gut microbiota and food allergy in children

Abstract:

Food allergy (FA) with growing incidence has emerged as one of the public health problems around the world as it seriously affects the life quality of children. Recent studies have discovered that there are significant differences in the composition of gut microbiota between the children with FA and healthy children. In-depth studies have reported that gut microbiota can help to maintain immune balance by regulating immune cells such as dendritic cells, helper T cells, regulatory T cells, mastocytes, and granulocytes. In addition, gut microbiota can enhance the intestinal barrier function to inhibit FA in a variety of ways. On the basis of research results from animal experiments, probiotics and prebiotics have been used in the treatment of FA in children, whereas the effect is not ideal. As FA occurs in a growing number of children in the world, this article reviews some mechanisms of gut microbiota in influencing FA and summarizes the application of probiotics and prebiotics in the treatment and prevention of FA in children in recent years. Furthermore, this article proposes new ideas for deciphering the mechanism of gut microbiota in regulating FA and applying probiotics and probiotic metabolites in the treatment and prevention of FA in children, which is of great significance for promoting the research on the treatment of FA in children.