Molecular mechanism of food allergy inciting commensals from the human gut microbiome

The Western world continues to see increasing rates of food allergy. Given the association of the microbiome with food allergy, it may be possible to alter the disease course by changing the microbiome through targeted interventions. Nevertheless, before such interventions could become a reality, it is imperative to generate precise knowledge about how the microbiome affects the disease. We recently showed that a mucin-degrading gut bacterium, Akkermansia muciniphila, breaks down the oral tolerance in fibre-deprived mice that have a reduced colonic mucus barrier attributed to excessive microbial mucin foraging. Moreover, our unpublished preliminary data in a dietary fibre intervention human cohort study (Luxembourgish Fiber Cohort (LUXFICO)) show that a low-fibre diet fuels activity of colonic mucin-degrading bacteria.

Our translational project will shed light on understanding the functional connection of the human gut microbiome to food allergy, which is expected to aid in the implementation of personalized interventions to engineer the microbiome as both a preventative and therapeutic strategy in food allergy.