Prolonged ingestion of ovalbumin diet by sensitized mice improves the metabolic consequences induced by experimental food allergy

Summary The prevalence of food allergy is rising in the western world. Allergen restriction is the chosen treatment in this condition, but continuous ingestion of the antigen has shown positive results in clinical trials. In a previous study, we have shown several allergic and metabolic alterations after 7 days of ovalbumin ( O VA) ingestion by sensitized mice. The aim of this study was to investigate whether prolonged ingestion of antigen by sensitized mice would reverse the metabolic consequences caused by experimental food allergy. For this, allergic and metabolic parameters were analysed after prolonged ingestion of an O VA diet by O VA‐sensitized mice. As shown previously, after 7 days of O VA consumption, sensitized mice showed increased serum levels of anti‐ O VA immunoglobulin ( Ig)E and I g G 1, aversion to the antigen ingestion, marked body and adipose tissue weight loss, followed by adipose tissue inflammation and decreased serum levels of adipokines, glucose and triglycerides. However, after 14 days of oral challenge, sensitized mice showed an anti‐ O VA IgE level similar to the mice that were only sensitized, but the specific I g G 1 did not change. With this prolonged ingestion of O VA, sensitized mice were protected from O VA‐induced anaphylaxis when the antigen was given systemically at a dose of 2 mg/animal. Moreover, various parameters analysed were significantly ameliorated, including adipose tissue inflammation, body and adipose tissue loss, as well as serum levels of adipokines and triglycerides. Therefore, our data suggest that prolonged ingestion of O VA by sensitized mice results in an improvement of the metabolic consequences caused by experimental food allergy.