title: Specific immunotherapy plus Clostridium butyricum alleviates ulcerative colitis in patients with food allergy.
abstract: The aberrant T cell activation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of intestinal inflammation, such as ulcerative colitis (UC). C. butyricum (Cb) is a probiotic and has been employed in the treatment of immune diseases. This study tests a hypothesis that specific immunotherapy (SIT) plus oral Cb (an over-the-counter probiotic) alleviates the UC symptoms. In this study, we conducted a randomized, double-blind, clinical study at our hospital. A total of 80 patients with relapsing-remitting ulcerative colitis and high levels of specific IgE antibody was randomly divided into 4 groups, and were treated with SIT or/and Cb, or placebo, respectively for 1 year. The results showed that a food antigen-specific Th2 polarization immune response was observed in UC patients with food allergy (FA). The frequency of regulatory B cells was significantly less in UC patients with FA as compared with healthy subjects. The UC patients with FA were treated with SIT and Cb showed significant amelioration of UC clinical symptoms, reduction of using UC-control medicines, and suppression of the skewed Th2 polarization, which did not occur in those treated with either SIT alone, or Cb alone, or placebo. In conclusion, combination of SIT and Cb efficiently alleviates a fraction of UC patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian, China.
authors.lastname: Bin Lan
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou 350005, Fujian, China.
authors.forename: Zhenlv
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000941:Antigens / Q000276:immunology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D046972:Clostridium butyricum / Q000502:physiology*; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D008297:Male; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens