Immune cells in the gut may play a big role in peanut allergies
Severe peanut allergies may stem from the stomach and gut. A surprisingly large pool of cells involved in allergic reactions to peanuts resides in the stomachs and small intestines of allergic adults, scientists report March 5 in Science Immunology. Identifying the gastrointestinal tract as a prime location for allergy molecules is “a huge step forward,” says Cecilia Berin, an immunologist who studies food allergies at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. Studies on mice hinted that certain immune molecules are made in the gut, but there has been scant evidence of that in people, she says. “This is the first time that we actually see what is happening in the gut” in people with peanut allergies, she says. The new findings may point to treatments for people with food allergies, estimated to affect between 3 and 6 percent of people in the United States. The study focused on an elusive, rare antibody called IgE. Usually present in...