How probiotics affect hay fever

A daily probiotic drink can change the way cells in the nasal cavity respond to a single off-season stress in people with hay patients, a study suggests. However, it does not significantly improve the symptoms of hay fever, although this stress test may not accurately represent the natural allergens in contact.our immune system must be able to recognize

"friends
"
and
"
"
that are good
. There is growing evidence that the gut
-
large number of bacteria that live in our guts - can influence this recognition. Once the identification fails, the immune response occurs. This is the case for people with hay fever or seasonal rhinitis, when the immune system responds to pollen or fungal spores.Previously, a team at the Food Research Institute (
IFR
) measured molecular changes in the immune system and found that drinking probiotic drinks containing
Lactobacillus casei
can change the way our immune system responds to pollen from grass.new study, published in the journal
PLOS ONE
, shows for the first time how these probiotics interact with our gut cells to make systemic changes in cells inside the nasal cavity.funded by
Yakult
, the Biotechnology and Bioscience Research Council (
BBSRC
)
,
IFR
at
Norwich Research Park
and East Ange, UK Clinicians and scientists at the University of
University of East Anglia

had
60,
hay fever patients drink one drink a day for
16
weeks outside the pollen season. One group of volunteers drank
drinks with the addition of
Lactobacillus casei Shirota (
), while another group cited similar drinks that did not contain probiotics. The study used a double-blind test and a placebo control, so either the volunteers nor the scientists knew which group of volunteers had taken probiotics. Take samples of their nasal cavity and blood before and after pollen stimulation causes allergic symptoms in the volunteers. Repeat
at
of the 16-week intervention. Clinical tests of hay fever symptoms were also recorded.who took probiotic-containing beverages had changes in allergic inflammation inside their nasal cavity, as well as changes in their blood, all related to the immune response. This is strong evidence that intestinal bacteria can affect gut cells and have a systemic effect on our bodies and distant cells
-
, such as those in our nasal cavity. Despite this, however, probiotics have no detectable effect on the symptoms of hay fever.is a complex disease that is evaluated and simulated in a clinical setting. The researchers used a single allergen stress to stimulate the nasal cavity of the volunteers to provide a standard, repeatable experiment that ensured comparability of all subsequent results. In real life, hay fever is often caused by long-term exposure to allergens, and the intensity and duration of seizures vary over a period of days and weeks.
IFR
researchers are currently exploring the possibility of a seasonal study to investigate whether changes in the nasal mucous membranes in this single stress test study are associated with changes in the symptoms of hay fever caused by real pollen exposure in reality.