Stefka and colleagues studied whether food allergy could be affected by gut microbiota. Germ-free, antibiotic treated and conventional mice have been exposed to a peanut allergen. They found that sensitization to the allergen increased in germ free and antibiotic treated mice. Using a a mix of Clostridia strains, they reversed the sensitization process and demonstrate that this mix could minimize reaction to the allergen.

Andrew T. Stefka, Taylor Feehley, Prabhanshu Tripathi, Ju Qiu, Kathy McCoy, Sarkis K. Mazmanian, Melissa Y. Tjota, Goo-Young Seo, Severine Cao, Betty R. Theriault, Dionysios A. Antonopoulos, Liang Zhou, Eugene B. Chang, Yang-Xin Fu, and Cathryn R. Nagler. Commensal bacteria protect against food allergen sensitization. PNAS 2014 : 1412008111v1-201412008