B cells are involved in the modulation of pathogenic gut immune response in food-allergic enteropathy

Food enteropathies involve uncontrolled or hypersensitivity reactions to ingested nutrients and may result in IgE and T-helper type 2 (Th2) responses as in food allergy. However, the precise role of B cells in the development of food enteropathies remains uncertain. In this work, we used B cell-deficient mice (B KO) and a model of peanut sensitization to examine the involvement of B lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of food allergy. Results showed that priming of wild-type (WT) mice with peanut proteins induced specific IgG1 and IgE responses in serum, with edema, tissue destruction, epithelial exulceration and inflammatory infiltrate in the gut of sensitized and challenged (S + Peanut) WT animals. In contrast, there was no sera immunoglobulin detection and absence of tissue destruction in the gut of B KO mice, which presented moderate inflammatory infiltrate and villous enlargement after peanut challenge. These animals presented marked decrease in IL-4 and TNF-alpha and high levels of IL-10, TGF-beta, IL-12p40 and IFN-gamma mRNA in the gut. Moreover, the expression of CCL5, CCL11 and CXCL1 was reduced in the gut of B KO mice, in contrast to elevated messages of CCL2 or similar detection of Th1-related chemokines in S + Peanut WT mice. Finally, we provided evidence that B cells are necessary to the development of food-related enteropathies and induction of gut inflammation during allergic reactions to food.