Establishment of highly effective therapy for food allergy by concomitant use of kakkonto with oral immunotherapy

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K09234
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: General internal medicine(including psychosomatic medicine)
• Research Institution: University of Toyama
• Principal Investigator: Yamamoto Takeshi 富山大学, 和漢医薬学総合研究所, 助教 (70316181)
• Research Collaborator: Ito Yasunori ; Nagata Yuka (80802016)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 食物アレルギー / 葛根湯 / 経口免疫療法 / 制御性T細胞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Food allergies (FAs) represent an increasingly prevalent human health problem that affects a large proportion of the general population in developed countries. Despite the increasing prevalence of FA, there are no treatments available for FA. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) has been considered a promising approach for FAs. However, the current OIT strategy is limited in terms of the long-term efficacy and safety. We have previously demonstrated that kakkonto, a traditional Japanese herbal medicine, suppresses the occurrence of allergic symptoms in a murine model of FA. Therefore, we investigated whether kakkonto could improve the efficacy of OIT. The concomitant use of kakkonto significantly enhanced the effectiveness of OIT on the allergic symptoms by increasing regulatory T cells in the colon. These findings indicated that the combination of OIT with kakkonto represents a promising approach for FA treatment.

Free Research Field

消化管生理学、薬理学、免疫学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

病態モデルを用いて、葛根湯と経口免疫療法の併用療法が、経口免疫療法による食物アレルギーの治療効果を増加させることを明らかにした本研究成果は、未だ治療法が確立していない食物アレルギーに対する漢方薬併用した有効な治療法の確立に繋がることが考えられる。