Scientists have made a significant breakthrough in understanding why allergies occur in some infants by peforming umbilical cord blood tests. They identified some cellular activity in baby’s umbilical cords which may be causing allergies to occur.

Allergies affect millions of people around the world and can sometimes have very serious consequences.  In the United States, more than 200 people die from food allergies each year.

Researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research  in Australia believe that an overactive immune system can cause a child to develop “a mild to severely life-threatening allergic reaction” to foods including milk, eggs, and nuts.

The researchers discovered that babies with hyperactive immune cells in their umbilical cord blood at birth had a greater chance of developing food allergies.

One of the study authors, Yuxia Zhang, explained the findings saying: “In at-risk babies, immune cells called monocytes were activated before or during birth. Signals from these cells encouraged the development of immune responses by specialised immune cells called T cells that were predisposed to cause allergic reactions to some foods.”

After performing umbilical cord blood tests, the babies were found to have higher monocyte to CD4+ T cell ratio and a lower proportion of natural regulatory T cell (nTreg). The umbilical cord cells of infants with allergies had expressed more inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor–α).

The results provide a solid explanation for susceptibility to food allergy in infants. Researchers believe that anti-inflammatory approaches may be used to prevent allergies in the future. The study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

Source: Umbilical Cord Blood Tests May Predict ‘Life-Threatening’ Allergies

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