A newly discovered type of immune cell in the gut could hold the secret to why some people develop food allergies while others don’t, according to research from NYU Langone Health.
The study, published in Nature, shines new light on how the body learns to tolerate harmless substances like food without launching an immune attack.
Normally, the immune system must strike a balance—it needs to fight off real threats like viruses while ignoring things that aren’t dangerous, like proteins in food.
When this system fails, allergies can occur. Until now, scientists didn’t fully understand how the body learns to tolerate food.
But this new study reveals that a special group of immune cells in the intestines, called “tolerogenic dendritic cells,” may be responsible for keeping the peace.
These cells help prevent the immune system from overreacting to food proteins by teaching other immune cells, called T cells, to become anti-inflammatory.
This means that the next time the body sees the same food protein, the immune system doesn’t attack—it stays calm.
Without these special cells doing their job, the immune system can treat food like a harmful invader, triggering allergic reactions.
The researchers found that these tolerogenic dendritic cells depend on two specific proteins, RORγt and Prdm16, to function properly. When these proteins are missing, the protective immune response breaks down.
In experiments with mice, those lacking functional tolerogenic dendritic cells were more likely to develop food allergies and asthma. They had fewer calming T cells and more aggressive, inflammatory ones that sparked allergy symptoms.
This study builds on earlier work from the same team, which showed that these cells also play a role in tolerating helpful gut bacteria.
These bacteria are essential for digestion and overall health, and immune tolerance toward them is just as important as tolerance toward food.
Interestingly, the scientists also found similar cells in human intestinal tissue. While more research is needed to understand how common these cells are in people and whether they work the same way in other parts of the body, this discovery opens the door to new treatments.
According to lead researcher Dr. Dan Littman, the goal is to explore whether these cells could be used to stop food allergies. For example, if someone is allergic to peanuts, doctors might one day be able to use tolerogenic dendritic cells to help their immune system “learn” to accept peanut proteins without reacting.
Next, the research team plans to study how these special immune cells form and what signals they need to stay active. Their hope is that this knowledge could lead to better treatments for food allergies and maybe even some autoimmune diseases in the future.
If you care about health, please read studies about how Mediterranean diet could protect your brain health, and the best time to take vitamins to prevent heart disease.
For more health information, please see recent studies that olive oil may help you live longer, and vitamin D could help lower the risk of autoimmune diseases.
Source: NYC.
