title: The Potential Therapeutic Efficacy of Lactobacillus GG in Children with Food Allergies.
abstract: Food allergy (FA) continues to be a growing health concern for infants living in Western countries. The long-term prognosis for the majority of affected infants is good, with 80-90% naturally acquiring tolerance by the age of five years. However, recent studies suggest that the natural history of FA is changing, with an increasing persistence until later ages. The pathogenesis of FA as well as oral tolerance is complex and not completely known, although numerous studies implicate gut-associated immunity and enteric microflora, and it has been suggested that an altered composition of intestinal microflora results in an unbalanced local and systemic immune response to food allergens. In addition, there are qualitative and quantitative differences in the composition of gut microbiota between patients affected by FA and healthy infants. These findings prompted the concept that specific beneficial bacteria from the human intestinal microflora, designated probiotics, could restore intestinal homeostasis and prevent or alleviate allergy, at least in part by interacting with the intestinal immune cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Naples "Federico II", 80131, Naples, Italy. berni@unina.it.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Berni Canani
authors.forename: Margherita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Di Costanzo
authors.forename: Vincenza
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pezzella
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cosenza
authors.forename: Viviana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Granata
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Terrin
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nocerino