Investigating B Cell Responses in Food Allergic Children
Session Number
C08
Advisor(s)
Kris Erickson, Northwestern University Kathryn Hulse, Northwestern University Anne-Marie Singh, Northwestern University
Location
B-131 Grainger
Start Date
28-4-2016 9:50 AM
End Date
28-4-2016 10:15 AM
Abstract
It is estimated that 8% of US children have food allergies. Despite the high prevalence and risk associated with food allergy, the mechanisms that drive this disease are unclear. B cells play many important roles in all allergic diseases; however, the role of B cells in food allergy has not been studied. We sought to determine whether B cell function was different between children with and without food allergy. Blood was drawn from children with (n=4) and without (n=4) food allergy, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated using ficoll centrifugation. PBMCs were left unstimulated, or stimulated to induce production of IgG or IgE for 5 days and then assessed by flow cytometry to identify the effect of stimulation. Interestingly, we did not find any differences in B cell subsets between the two groups at baseline. However, IgE-promoting conditions tended to induce increased B cell frequencies only in samples from food allergic children; likely due to an increase in memory B cells. These data suggest that B cells from food allergic children may be more easily stimulated by IgE-promoting factors, and ongoing studies are aimed at further elucidating the differences in B cell responses between these two groups.
Investigating B Cell Responses in Food Allergic Children
B-131 Grainger
It is estimated that 8% of US children have food allergies. Despite the high prevalence and risk associated with food allergy, the mechanisms that drive this disease are unclear. B cells play many important roles in all allergic diseases; however, the role of B cells in food allergy has not been studied. We sought to determine whether B cell function was different between children with and without food allergy. Blood was drawn from children with (n=4) and without (n=4) food allergy, and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated using ficoll centrifugation. PBMCs were left unstimulated, or stimulated to induce production of IgG or IgE for 5 days and then assessed by flow cytometry to identify the effect of stimulation. Interestingly, we did not find any differences in B cell subsets between the two groups at baseline. However, IgE-promoting conditions tended to induce increased B cell frequencies only in samples from food allergic children; likely due to an increase in memory B cells. These data suggest that B cells from food allergic children may be more easily stimulated by IgE-promoting factors, and ongoing studies are aimed at further elucidating the differences in B cell responses between these two groups.