Obesity and oral tolerance in respiratory allergy

Obesity and allergy have become significant health problems, particularly in the Westernized world. Our main goal was to assess whether obesity impacts the induction of oral immune tolerance in respiratory allergy, as this could lead to a better understanding in search of appropriate treatment for the population at risk. C57BL/6 male mice fed with a high-fat diet or standard chow diet for nine weeks were immunized/sensitized and then challenged with ovalbumin (OVA). To induce tolerance, mice were orally treated with OVA before sensitization. We demonstrated that obese and lean mice showed a robust allergic response, albeit more substantial allergic inflammation in obese. Interestingly, the oral tolerance was not impaired and efficiently attenuated the increased allergic reaction in the obese mice. Sequencing was performed at the Joint Microbiome Facility of the Medical University of Vienna and the University of Vienna under the project ID JMF-2305-04.