Abstract
Intestinal microflora play a key role in the maturation of the intestinal immune system. In addition, immunological tolerance to commensal enteric bacteria (CEB) is thought to exist, although abnormal responses to CEB occur under some pathological conditions. This paper examines whether allergic conditions can induce such responses to CEB. We examined serum IgG titers of Escherichia coil, Bacteroides vulgatus, Bifidobacterium longum, and Lactobacillus gasseri by ELISA in an allergic (n = 25) and non-allergic group (n = 22) . The titres for Escherichia coli (p< 0.05) and Bacteroides vulgatus (p< 0.05) were abnormal in the allergic group as compared with the control, non-allergic group, similar to the non-IgE mediated allergy responses to commensal intestinal flora. We conclude that there are abnormal responses to CBC under allergic condition, and that these responses may be influenced by changes in lifestyle.
