Pharmaceuticals 2012, 5(6), 655-664; doi:10.3390/ph5060655
Review

The Potential Therapeutic Efficacy of Lactobacillus GG in Children with Food Allergies

Roberto Berni Canani 1,2,* email, Margherita Di Costanzo 1 email, Vincenza Pezzella 1 email, Linda Cosenza 1 email, Viviana Granata 1 email, Gianluca Terrin 3 email and Rita Nocerino 1 email
1 Department of Pediatrics, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131, Naples, Italy 2 European Laboratory for the Investigation of Food Induced Diseases, University of Naples “Federico II”, 80131, Naples, Italy 3 Department of Woman’s Health and Territorial Medicine, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 16 May 2012; in revised form: 4 June 2012 / Accepted: 6 June 2012 / Published: 19 June 2012
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Probiotics and Prebiotics)
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Abstract: Food allergy (FA) continues to be a growing health concern for infants living in Western countries. The long-term prognosis for the majority of affected infants is good, with 80–90% naturally acquiring tolerance by the age of five years. However, recent studies suggest that the natural history of FA is changing, with an increasing persistence until later ages. The pathogenesis of FA as well as oral tolerance is complex and not completely known, although numerous studies implicate gut-associated immunity and enteric microflora, and it has been suggested that an altered composition of intestinal microflora results in an unbalanced local and systemic immune response to food allergens. In addition, there are qualitative and quantitative differences in the composition of gut microbiota between patients affected by FA and healthy infants. These findings prompted the concept that specific beneficial bacteria from the human intestinal microflora, designated probiotics, could restore intestinal homeostasis and prevent or alleviate allergy, at least in part by interacting with the intestinal immune cells.
Keywords: food allergy; probiotic; intestinal microflora; immune system; Lactobacillus GG; cow’s milk allergy; tolerance acquisition; atopic march; pediatrics; infants

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Berni Canani, R.; Di Costanzo, M.; Pezzella, V.; Cosenza, L.; Granata, V.; Terrin, G.; Nocerino, R. The Potential Therapeutic Efficacy of Lactobacillus GG in Children with Food Allergies. Pharmaceuticals 2012, 5, 655-664.

AMA Style

Berni Canani R, Di Costanzo M, Pezzella V, Cosenza L, Granata V, Terrin G, Nocerino R. The Potential Therapeutic Efficacy of Lactobacillus GG in Children with Food Allergies. Pharmaceuticals. 2012; 5(6):655-664.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Berni Canani, Roberto; Di Costanzo, Margherita; Pezzella, Vincenza; Cosenza, Linda; Granata, Viviana; Terrin, Gianluca; Nocerino, Rita. 2012. "The Potential Therapeutic Efficacy of Lactobacillus GG in Children with Food Allergies." Pharmaceuticals 5, no. 6: 655-664.

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