Probiotics—Immunomodulatory Potential Against Allergic Disease

: Interactions between microbes and host have recently prompted active research subsequent to the demonstration that the generation of immunophysiological regulation in the gastrointestinal tract depends on the establishment of indigenous microbiota. The gut microflora provides maturational signals for the gut-associated lymphoid tissue, particularly for the IgA plasma cells, conferring the first line of host immunological defense. The probiotic effects in allergic disease have been attributed to restoration to normal of increased intestinal permeability and unbalanced gut microecology, improvement of the intestine's immunological barrier functions, alleviation of the intestinal inflammatory response, and reduced generation of proinflammatory cytokines characteristic of local and systemic allergic inflammation. Moreover, the potential of specific strains of the gut microbiota to contribute to the generation of TH1- and TH3-type immune responses counter-regulating the TH2-type immune responses in atopic disease may create optimal conditions to redirect the polarized immunological memory of the newborn to a healthy balance and thereby reduce the risk of atopic disease. The objective of probiotic intervention in allergy is to control the allergic inflammatory response before the TH2-type immune responsiveness to environmental antigens is consolidated.