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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Intestinal Microbiome
Volume 14 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2024.1454333

Allergen-specific sublingual immunotherapy altered gut microbiota in patients with allergic rhinitis

Provisionally accepted
Jing Wu Jing Wu 1Dan Wang Dan Wang 2Wen-Jun He Wen-Jun He 1Junyang Li Junyang Li 1XI MO XI MO 1Youjin Li Youjin Li 1,2*
  • 1 Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
  • 2 Hainan Branch of Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Allergen-specific immunotherapy (AIT) induces long-term immune tolerance to allergens and is effective for treating allergic rhinitis (AR). However, the impact of sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) on gut microbiota from AR patients and its correlation with treatment efficacy remains unclear. In the present study, we enrolled 24 AR patients sensitized to Dermatophagoides farinae (Der-f) and six healthy donors (HD). All AR patients received SLIT treatment using standardized Der-f drops. Stool samples were collected from AR patients before treatment, and 1-and 3-months post-treatment, as well as from HD, for metagenomic sequencing analysis. The results showed that, AR patients had significantly lower richness and diversity in gut microbiota compared to HD, with notable alterations in composition and function. Besides, three months post-SLIT treatment, significant changes in gut microbiota composition at the genus and species levels were observed in AR patients. Streptococcus parasanguinis_B and Streptococcus parasanguinis, which were significantly lower in AR patients compared to healthy donors, increased notably after three months of treatment. LEfSe analysis identified these species as markers distinguishing HD from AR patients and AR patients pre-from post-SLIT treatment. Furthermore, changes in the relative abundance of S. parasanguinis_B were negatively correlated with changes in VAS scores but positively correlated with changes in RCAT scores, suggesting a positive correlation with effective SLIT treatment. In conclusion, SLIT treatment significantly alters the gut microbiota of AR patients, with S. parasanguinis_B potentially linked to its effectiveness. This study offers insights into SLIT mechanisms and suggests that specific strains may serve as biomarkers for predicting SLIT efficacy and as modulators for improving SLIT efficacy.

    Keywords: allergic rhinitis, Dermatophagoides farinae, Allergen-specific sublingual immunotherapy, Gut Microbiota, Streptococcus parasanguinis_B

    Received: 26 Jun 2024; Accepted: 09 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wu, Wang, He, Li, MO and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Youjin Li, Hainan Branch of Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.