Respiratory allergen from house dust mite is present in human milk and primes for allergic sensitization in a mouse model of asthma

Abstract

There is an urgent need to identify environmental risk and protective factors in early life for the prevention of allergy. Our study demonstrates the presence of respiratory allergen from house dust mite, Der p 1, in human breast milk. Der p 1 in milk is immunoreactive, present in similar amounts as dietary egg antigen, and can be found in breast milk from diverse regions of the world. In a mouse model of asthma, oral exposure to Der p through breast milk strongly promotes sensitization rather than protect the progeny as we reported with egg antigen. These data highlight that antigen administration to the neonate through the oral route may contribute to child allergic sensitization and have important implications for the design of studies assessing early oral antigen exposure for allergic disease prevention. The up-to-now unknown worldwide presence of respiratory allergen in maternal milk allows new interpretation and design of environmental control epidemiological studies for allergic disease prevention.

Peanut allergens are rapidly transferred in human breast milk and can prevent sensitization in mice

“…Assuming that Ara h 6 represents 4% of peanut proteins, this would correspond to about 13 ng/ml of peanut proteins for 50 g of ingested peanut. Although this value is 15-fold lower than previously observed, that is, about 200 ng/ml (9), peak value of Ara h 6 (i.e., about 3 ng/ml) in our study corresponds to that observed for other allergens such as ovalbumin (8,38) or BLG (11,24,39). After milk ingestion, BLG was still detectable in 50% of milk samples collected 9-15 h after milk consumption (11), whereas few samples were still positive for peanut proteins after 8 h (9).…”

Close Positive Correlation between the Lymphocyte Response to Hen Egg White and House Dust Mites in Infants with Atopic Dermatitis

“…A recent report has described that HDM is found in breast milk at a concentration similar to that in EW [19]. Sensitization to HDM via the intestine has been demonstrated using a murine model, and therefore sensitization via the ingestion of breast milk is possible.…”

Is infant immunization by breastfeeding possible?

“…We found that mice exposure to respiratory antigen resulted indeed in the presence of the antigen in breast milk [6,7,10], and more importantly, we could detect respiratory antigen, house dust mite (HDM) Dermatophagoides Pteronyssinus (Der p) 1, in human milk from various regions of the world [6]. Looking at literature in rodents can explain this observation.…”

“…The presence of airborne antigens in milk most probably results from the transfer of antigen from the airways to the mammary gland, mainly through the gut and, for a small proportion, through the alveolar -capillary barrier of the lung. While we showed that OVA administration through breast milk resulted in prevention of allergic disease, either by Th1 differentiation in the case of soluble OVA [10] or by Foxp3 Tregs differentiation in the case of OVA in immune complexes [7], oral early exposure to HDM antigens through breast milk resulted in increased allergic sensitization in the progeny even though TGF-b and maternal antibodies were present in milk [6]. There are some important biological and functional differences between OVA and HDM antigens that could explain these observations.…”