Urticaria, or hives, is characterized by itchy, red welts on the surface of the skin that can be localized or involve large areas of the body. This condition is a hypersensitivity reaction usually in response to an allergen such as food, insect bites, medication or pollen, but it can also be aggravated by emotional distress, perspiration, sun exposure and several illnesses. There is no evidence to suggest that probiotics cause hives, as probiotics are natural residents of the gastrointestinal tract; but rather, probiotics can influence the bacterial colonization of the digestive tract to prevent the occurrence of hives.
Food Allergens
Milk, eggs, peanuts and walnuts are the most common food allergens in the U.S. and U.K., in that order, according to a study in the September 2010 issue of the "Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology." Food allergens cause a release of a chemical from white blood cells called IgE, an immunoglobulin which causes skin reactions including hives. The authors report that probiotics provide significant benefits for food allergy treatments by interacting with the immune system through the mucosal barrier of the gastrointestinal tract, which is the mucus-covered lining of the gut. The article points out that there is no consensus on the effectiveness of probiotics to prevent symptoms of food allergies due to differences in specific human populations and the strain of probiotics used.
Prebiotics
A study published in the June 2008 issue of the "Journal of Nutrition" evaluated the effectiveness of treating children with prebiotics, compounds that fuel the growth and activity of bacteria in the digestive system, to prevent the occurrence of allergic reactions later in life. The researchers recruited 134 infants with a parental history of allergy and supplemented 68 of them with prebiotics. The remaining infants were used as a control group and were not supplemented. The study found that prebiotic supplementation significantly reduced the incidence of allergic manifestations including hives. The authors concluded that prebiotics modulate the resident bacteria in the intestine thereby offering a protective effect against allergens.
Supplementation with Probiotics
Allergens cause the release of chemical messengers throughout the body during allergic reactions. Some of these messengers induce the proliferation of certain types of cells, such as CD34+ cells, the precursors of red blood cells, which aggravate the allergic reaction. A study in the April 2004 issue of the "European Annals of Allergy and Clinical Immunology" investigated the effects of probiotics on the proliferation of CD34+ cells. The researchers supplemented 14 patients with probiotics consisting of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus delbreuckii and Streptococcus thermophilus and monitored their CD34+cell concentrations. After 30 days, the researchers found a significant decrease in CD34+ cells, indicating the efficacy of probiotic treatment for allergic diseases.
Bacterial Imbalance
The balance of bacterial species in the intestines of infants may be responsible for the frequency of allergy in adults living in Western societies, according to an article in the November 2005 issue of the "Proceedings of the Nutrition Society." The author stated that a reduction in bifidobacteria and an increase in clostridium species may be responsible for allergies, especially in bottle-fed infants. The article found that probiotic therapy with Lactobacillus rhamnosus may prevent or reduce allergic symptoms in infants including urticaria induced by cow's milk.
References
- "Proceedings of the Nutrition Society'; Probiotics and Allergy; E. Furrie; November 2005
- "European Annals of Allergy and Clinical Immunology"; Probiotics Reduce the CD34+ Hemopoietic Precursor Cell Increased Traffic in Allergic Subjects; F. Mastrandrea, et al.; April 2004
- "Journal of Nutrition"; Early Dietary Intervention with a Mixture of Prebiotic Oligosaccharides Reduces the Incidence of Allergic Manifestations and Infection During the First Two Years of Life; S. Arslanoglu, et al.; June 2008
- "Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology"; Food Allergy and Probiotics in Childhood; M. del Giudice, et al.; September 2010
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