Gut cells may help tame food allergy

Scientists have identified a type of cells that can protect allergy-causing proteins from being killed by immune cells in the small intestine, a finding they say may lead to new therapies for severe food allergies.

Immune cells in the small intestine act as border guards and help allow nutrients to pass safely into the bloodstream. But they also kill any bacteria or unwelcome freeloaders that try to get through. In the case of allergies, these guards are a little too trigger-happy, mounting a violent attack against an innocent peanut or wheat protein.  Now, a team led by Rodney Newberry at the Washington University in the US found special cells, called goblet cells, in small intestine that can escort allergy-causing proteins across the intestinal lining and introduce them to the immune system on friendly terms.

These cells, they said, could soon be used as targets for a drug therapy that can tame a hyper-vigilant immune system, LiveScience reported.

Scientists had assumed that dendritic cells that are part of the immune system find antigens — proteins that trigger an antibody, or immune, response — and pull them deeper into the intestinal wall for further scrutiny.

Once antigens are pulled from the intestine, the cells in the immune system either neutralise or kill them if they are deemed foreign and potentially harmful.