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ALLERGY

IgE producers in the gut expand the gut’s role in food allergy

Details about IgE-producing B cells in the gut in the context of food allergy are scarce, despite the frequent exposure of the gut and its associated lymphoid tissues to dietary antigens. A new study finds that IgE-producing B cells are enriched in gut tissues and are probably generated from local antibody isotype switching.

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Fig. 1: B cell development and maturation and role in peanut allergy.

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Acknowledgements

A.W.B. and O.I.I. are both supported by grants from NIH-NIAID. O.I.I. is also supported by the AAAAI Foundation and the Thurston Arthritis Research Center.

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Correspondence to Onyinye I. Iweala.

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Competing interests

O.I.I. is a consultant for Matzellen Bio. A.W.B. reports that: he receives grant support to his institution from the National Institutes of Health and Food Allergy Research & Education; royalties from UpToDate; consulting honorariums from Astella Pharma Global Development, DBV Technologies, kaléo, N-Fold, LLC, and UKKO, as well as Aimmune Therapeutics, Consortia TX, and Prota Therapeutics for his service on their respective Scientific Advisory Boards. A.W.B. owns stock in Allertein and Mastcell Pharmaceuticals.

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Iweala, O.I., Burks, A.W. IgE producers in the gut expand the gut’s role in food allergy. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 17, 384–386 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41575-020-0309-5

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