Apple Compound May Alleviate Food Allergies

Polyphenols may help reduce the release of effector cells.

by Robert Goldman MD, PhD

Food allergies are triggered by allergens and their derivatives commonly found in foods that contain gluten, fish, egg, peanut, soybean, dairy products, nuts, sulfites and other ingredients. Annick Mercenier, from the Nestlé Research Center in Switzerland, and colleagues have discovered that mice allergic to ovalbumin, a protein found in egg whites, that were fed a polyphenol-rich extract from apple experienced a reduced allergic response to the trigger protein, but only when the extract was consumed before the food. The team speculates that the polyphenols may help reduce the release of an allergic mediator by white blood cells known as effector cells, which are activated by the presence of an allergen. Alternatively, they posit that the apple polyphenols may bind to the allergen itself, which would reduce its allergenic properties. The team concludes that polyphenol-enriched apple extract “can attenuate food allergy symptoms in sensitized mice via two distinct possible mechanisms.”

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