Mice reared on a gluten-containing diet (GCD) are immunologically tolerant to gliadin (1). Aim of this study was to investigate whether oral tolerance is recreated in each generation by the ingestion of dietary gluten at weaning, or whether it is transferred from mother to young (as immune status or via passage of antigen) before birth or during lactation.BALB/c mice were used, reared on a gluten-free diet (GFD), born to mothers either from a GFD or a GCD colony. After parenteral immunisation with gliadin, both humoral and cell-mediated immunity were assessed by serum antibody (ELISA) and footpad swelling test, respectively.Unexpectedly, mice born to mothers from a GCD colony showed systemic immune responses to gliadin significantly higher (p<0.05) than mice born to mothers from a GFD colony. Furthermore, feeding mothers GCD for defined periods before and during pregnancy and during lactation, also resulted in priming of the specific immune responses of the offspring.These findings indicate that, in mice, sensitisation to maternal dietary antigens occurs in utero or shortly after birth. This animal model should allow investigation of the immunological mechanisms concerned.(1) Troncone R, Ferguson A. Immunological properties of gliadin presented via the gut. 20th Annual Meeting of ESPGAN, Lisbon 1987.
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