Apple Compound May Alleviate Food Allergies

Food allergies are triggered by allergens and their derivatives commonly found in foods that contain gluten, fish, egg, peanut, soybeans, dairy products, nuts, sulfites, and other ingredients.  Annick Mercenier, from the Nestle Research Center (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 the allergic response to the trigger protein, but only when the extract was consumed before being challenge with the food. The team speculates that the polyphenols may help to reduce the release of an allergic mediator by specific 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 the allergenicity of the protein. The team concludes that: “Polyphenol-enriched apple extract can attenuate food allergy symptoms in sensitized mice via two distinct possible mechanisms.”