{"id":14833,"date":"2021-06-17T16:30:40","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T06:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/?p=14833"},"modified":"2024-06-24T12:41:31","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T02:41:31","slug":"can-changing-your-gut-bacteria-reduce-your-allergies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/2021\/06\/17\/can-changing-your-gut-bacteria-reduce-your-allergies\/","title":{"rendered":"Can changing your gut bacteria reduce your allergies?"},"content":{"rendered":"

For\u00a0<\/span>World Allergy Week<\/span><\/a>, 13\u00a0– 19\u00a0June, we chat with\u00a0<\/span>Dr Amanda Cox<\/span><\/a>\u00a0who\u00a0is part of the\u00a0Griffith University\u00a0team\u00a0undertaking research trials\u00a0examining the effect of probiotic supplements\u00a0on hay fever (<\/span>allergic rhinitis<\/span><\/i>) symptoms.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In this Q&A,\u00a0Dr Cox\u00a0discusses\u00a0these research trials and their\u00a0real\u00a0life\u00a0benefits, as well as\u00a0the value<\/span>\u00a0of people engaging with clinical trials and becoming more health\u00a0aware.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Q & A:<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What sparked your interest in immunology?<\/b><\/p>\n

What continues to hold my interest, and what I like about my job, is that there is always something new to learn, particularly for the immune system. Even in the span of my career there are things that we now think about differently and understand better than 20 years ago.\u00a0It is a privilege to be able to continue to learn and understand better.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I think of the immune system as the centre of all disease\u2014a lot of the key diseases that are impactful for humans involve an aspect of immune system function. And immunology always will be part of the future and human disease; no matter how much we know, and how much we think we know, we are still struggling to manage people\u2019s health conditions in efficient and meaningful ways.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018It is a privilege to be able to continue to learn and understand better.\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the connection between the immune system,\u00a0probiotics\u00a0and these research trials?<\/b><\/p>\n

The immune system is just so\u00a0special\u00a0and we are interested in why\u00a0it\u00a0sometimes gets confused and responds to\u00a0non-harmful\u00a0things, as\u00a0it does in\u00a0allergies,\u00a0in the\u00a0same\u00a0way\u00a0it responds to harmful things such as\u00a0bacteria,\u00a0viruses\u00a0and\u00a0disease-causing\u00a0organisms.\u00a0Our work is particularly focused on the mucosal immune system,\u00a0where the body interfaces with the environment\u00a0such as\u00a0the\u00a0airways\u00a0and the gastrointestinal tract.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the years\u00a0we have\u00a0conducted several\u00a0studies\u00a0with probiotic supplements:\u00a0preparations of good bacteria\u00a0which are\u00a0thought to have positive health effects particularly in relation to immune-\u00a0mediated\u00a0conditions\u00a0such as\u00a0allergies. It\u00a0is thought that probiotics\u00a0can help to\u00a0educate or refocus the immune system and stop its\u00a0confused\u00a0response, getting\u00a0it back in balance.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The other part of the\u00a0story\u00a0is about all\u00a0the\u00a0millions of bacteria living in our gut and\u00a0the important role\u00a0they play in talking to, and directing, the immune system.\u00a0Some of our prior work\u00a0showed\u00a0that\u00a0the gut bacteria\u00a0in adults with\u00a0a history of hay fever was different\u00a0to\u00a0the gut bacteria in\u00a0adults with no history of allergy.\u00a0This observation contributed to our thinking\u00a0that\u00a0if we give a probiotic and modulate the composition of the gut\u00a0bacteria\u00a0then\u00a0the resulting\u00a0shift\u00a0in\u00a0balance\u00a0may\u00a0help dampen down or tighten up some of those immune pathways that\u00a0are responding inappropriately\u00a0in people with allergies.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"An
Dr Cox explains, \u2018This section of nasal tissue shows an increased number of one type of immune cell that are involved in driving allergic responses, stained in green. Other types of immune cells are stained in pink and red.\u2019 This image was generated using the GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiling System in the Nanostring Centre of Excellence in Spatial Biology at Griffith University, courtesy of Dr Cox.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For the first study we recruited\u00a0a modest\u00a048 people\u00a0who met our eligibility criteria,\u00a0namely\u00a0people allergic to\u00a0particular grasses, and partnered with a large international probiotic company to trial a probiotic supplement. Of these\u00a0participants, 60% reported that over the eight weeks they were taking the probiotic supplement they thought\u00a0that\u00a0their hay fever symptoms had\u00a0improved. This was a strong outcome which encouraged us to investigate\u00a0further\u00a0with a controlled study\u2014our current\u00a0<\/span>allergic rhinitis<\/span><\/i>\u00a0study.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The unique part of the\u00a0current\u00a0study is that it is a randomised placebo-controlled\u00a0trial, the gold standard of clinical trials.\u00a0Where\u00a0the first trial was open label,\u00a0so everyone knew they were getting the probiotic, the second\u00a0study\u00a0is more rigorously\u00a0designed and requires\u00a0more people\u00a0to\u00a0be randomly allocated to either\u00a0an active\u00a0or\u00a0a placebo group.\u00a0Naturally,\u00a0we are blinded to the groups.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently we are at\u00a0a\u00a0holding point as\u00a0we are\u00a0not in peak pollen period so\u00a0have\u00a0no active\u00a0participants in the trial.\u00a0Our next step is to decide\u00a0whether to close recruitment,\u00a0finalise the data set and move\u00a0onto analysing\u00a0the findings or\u00a0to continue\u00a0for another allergy season and recruit some more people.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018For allergies, there is a misconception that hay fever is just a bit of a runny nose and some sneezing. We need to recognise that for some people allergies can be quite debilitating\u00a0\u2026\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the impact of your studies?<\/b><\/p>\n

Our studies have real life benefits. Hay fever is so difficult for people to\u00a0manage<\/span>:<\/span>\u00a0they can\u2019t simply lock themselves away in a bubble and avoid environmental pollens\u00a0for weeks, sometimes months. And for some\u00a0people their dependence on over-the-counter allergy medicines\u00a0is significant<\/span>\u2014<\/span>and costly. So having an alternative management strategy, where a probiotic can modulate the gut bacteria and\u00a0dampen down their responsiveness<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>can mean\u00a0that\u00a0they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have to take\u00a0antihistamines\u00a0multiple times\u00a0a day, that their sleep isn\u2019t disrupted\u00a0or\u00a0that they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0feel\u00a0constantly unwell. It is meaningful.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What role can the public play?<\/b><\/p>\n

I think everyone can improve their health\u00a0awareness, their understanding of their own body and\u00a0learn\u00a0how to make choices to manage their health.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For allergies, there is a misconception that hay fever is just a bit of a runny\u00a0nose and some\u00a0sneezing. We need to recognise that for some people allergies can be quite debilitating\u00a0and, if we want to take it to the extreme, for\u00a0people who have the severe type of allergic reactions called\u00a0a<\/span>naphylactic reactions, these have the\u00a0potential to\u00a0be a\u00a0life threatening\u00a0situation.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The lesson we take away from all our clinical\u00a0studies is how invaluable the people participating in our studies are:\u00a0they are making a difference to progressing science,\u00a0medicine\u00a0and better health.\u00a0All the medicines being bought off the shelves have been tested,\u00a0regulated\u00a0and evaluated through rigorous research and development activities.\u00a0It is only through the public\u2019s willingness to engage that we\u00a0are able to\u00a0run these types of studies; these people have volunteered themselves to allow medicines to be available for everyone.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Discover\u00a0more<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more about\u202f<\/span>Dr Amanda Cox\u2019s research<\/span><\/a>\u202fthrough\u00a0the\u00a0open access research available on\u202f<\/span>Griffith Research Online<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For\u00a0World Allergy Week, 13\u00a0– 19\u00a0June, we chat with\u00a0Dr Amanda Cox\u00a0who\u00a0is part of the\u00a0Griffith University\u00a0team\u00a0undertaking research trials\u00a0examining the effect of probiotic supplements\u00a0on hay fever (allergic rhinitis) symptoms.\u00a0\u00a0 In this Q&A,\u00a0Dr Cox\u00a0discusses\u00a0these research trials and their\u00a0real\u00a0life\u00a0benefits, as well as\u00a0the value\u00a0of people engaging with clinical trials and becoming more health\u00a0aware.\u00a0 Q & A:\u00a0 What sparked your interest inContinue reading “Can changing your gut bacteria reduce your allergies?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":17313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,172,5,3],"tags":[162],"class_list":["post-14833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-researcher-profile","category-researchers","category-students","tag-general"],"acf":[],"modified_by":"Vanessa Gatt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2021\/06\/Dr-A-Cox.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/152"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testblogs.griffith.edu.au\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}