Mechanisms for initiation of food allergy by skin pre-disposed to atopic dermatitis

Food allergy can be life-threatening and often develops early in life. In infants and children, loss-of-function mutations in skin barrier genes associate with food allergy. In a mouse model with skin barrier mutations (Flakey Tail, FT+/− mice), topical epicutaneous sensitization to a food allergen peanut extract (PNE), an environmental allergen Alternaria alternata (Alt) and a detergent induce food allergy and then an oral PNE-challenge induces anaphylaxis. Exposures to these allergens and detergents can occur for infants and children in a household setting. From the clinical and preclinical studies of neonates and children with skin barrier mutations, early oral exposure to allergenic foods before skin sensitization may induce tolerance to food allergens and thus protect against development of food allergy. In the FT+/− mice, oral food allergen prior to skin sensitization induce tolerance to food allergens. However, when the skin of FT+/− pups are exposed to a ubiquitous environmental allergen at the time of oral consumption of food allergens, this blocks the induction of tolerance to the food allergen and the mice can then be skin sensitized with the food allergen. The development of food allergy in neonatal FT+/− mice is mediated by altered skin responses to allergens with increases in skin expression of interleukin 33, oncostatin M and amphiregulin. The development of neonate food allergy is enhanced when born to an allergic mother, but it is inhibited by maternal supplementation with α-tocopherol. Moreover, preclinical studies suggest that food allergen skin sensitization can occur before manifestation of clinical features of atopic dermatitis. Thus, these parameters may impact design of clinical studies for food allergy, when stratifying individuals by loss of skin barrier function or maternal atopy before offspring development of atopic dermatitis.