Dietary Vitamin D Supplementation Is Ineffective in Preventing Murine Cow’s Milk Allergy, Irrespective of the Presence of Nondigestible Oligosaccharides

Abstract

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Cow’s milk allergy (CMA) is one of the most common food allergies especially early in life. A mixture of nondigestible short-chain galacto-oligosaccharides, long-chain fructo-oligosaccharides, and pectin-derived acidic-oligosaccharides (GFA) may reduce allergy development and allergic symptoms in murine CMA. Recently, vitamin D (VitD) has been suggested to have beneficial effects in reducing allergy as well. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> In this study, the immune modulatory effect on allergy prevention using the combination of GFA and VitD was investigated. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Female C3H/HeOuJ mice were fed a control or GFA-containing diet with depleted, standard (1,000 IU/kg), or supplemented (5,000 IU/kg) VitD content for 2 weeks before and during whey sensitization (<i>n</i> = 10–15). Mice were sensitized 5 times intragastrically with PBS as a control, whey as cow’s milk allergen, and/or cholera toxin as adjuvant on a weekly interval. One week after the last sensitization, mice were intradermally challenged in both ear pinnae and orally with whey, subsequently the acute allergic skin response and shock symptoms were measured. After 18 h, terminal blood samples, mesenteric lymph nodes, and spleens were collected. Whey-specific immunoglobulin (Ig) E and IgG1 levels were measured by means of ELISA. T cell subsets and dendritic cells (DCs) were studied using flow cytometry. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Additional VitD supplementation did not lower the allergic symptoms compared to the standard VitD diet. CMA mice fed the GFA diet supplemented with VitD (GFA VitD<sup>+</sup>) significantly decreased the acute allergic skin response of whey sensitized mice when compared to the CMA mice fed VitD (VitD<sup>+</sup>) group (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The effect of GFA was not improved by extra VitD supplementation even though the CMA mice fed the GFA VitD<sup>+</sup> diet had a significantly increased percentage of CD103<sup>+</sup> DCs compared to the VitD<sup>+</sup> group (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The VitD-deprived mice showed a high percentage of severe shock and many reached the humane endpoint; therefore, these groups were not further analyzed. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> High-dose VitD supplementation in mice does not protect against CMA development in the presence or absence of GFA.

Serum vitamin D status in a cohort of infants with food protein‑induced gastrointestinal disease

“…The results revealed no statistically significant differences between the vitamin D-supplemented and placebo groups in the incidence of allergic disease outcomes or allergen sensitization rates at 1 or 2.5 years of age (26). Moreover, the results of an in vivo study demonstrated that high levels of vitamin D did not alleviate allergic symptoms in mice (27,28).…”

An In Vitro and In Vivo Translational Research Approach for the Assessment of Sensitization Capacity and Residual Allergenicity of an Extensive Whey Hydrolysate for Cow’s Milk-Allergic Infants

“…Degranulation of mast cells may cause an anaphylactic shock in severe allergic animals. To assess this anaphylactic shock severity, the animals were monitored closely, using a validated anaphylactic scoring (0, no symptoms; 1, scratching around nose and mouth; 2, swelling around the eyes and mouth, piloerection, reduced activity, higher breathing rate; 3, shortness of breath, blue rash around the mouth and tail, higher breathing rate; 4, no activity after stimulation, shivers, and muscle contractions [ 17 ]). Mice were placed on heating mats when a shock score of 3 was reached with a decrease in body temperature.…”

Selenium Modulates the Allergic Response to Whey Protein in a Mouse Model for Cow’s Milk Allergy

“…challenge. Anaphylactic shock symptoms were scored using a validated, previously described 0- to 4-point scoring system [ 29 ]. The body temperature was monitored at 30 and 60 min, after the i.d.…”