Allergen consumption and avoidance trigger differential neuroinflammatory responses in mice with subclinical milk allergy 2997

Description We previously demonstrated that allergen consumption by subclinically sensitized mice resulted in behavioral changes accompanied by neuroinflammation. Under the hypothesis that allergen avoidance would attenuate neuroinflammation, we further investigated allergen-triggered immune responses by profiling cytokines and chemokines in the brain. C57BL/6J male and female mice were sensitized to β-lactoglobulin (BLG, Bos d 5) to produce subclinical cow’s milk allergy. Following 2-week exposure to dietary whey, mice either remained on the whey diet or switched to whey-free diet for an additional 2 weeks as a recovery period. Cytokine and chemokines were measured from different brain regions using microarrays. Various immunologic factors were differentially altered in male and female experimental groups, with BLG-sensitized mice that stayed on the allergen-containing diet showing significant increases in proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines. Furthermore, distinct immune responses were observed in different brain regions with changes in specific cytokines and chemokines. These results indicated that continued allergen consumption prolonged neuroinflammation even with a subclinical food allergy, underscoring the importance of allergen avoidance in susceptible individuals.