Olive oil ameliorate allergic response in ovalbumin-induced food allergy mouse by promoting intestinal mucosal immunity

The numerous health benefits of olive oil are widely known, however, it also provides anti-allergic properties that have not yet been fully defined. In this study, the anti-allergic activity of olive oil was evaluated by analyzing the clinical symptoms and immune-related factors in BALB/c mice that had ingested 600 mg/(kg center dot day) olive oil for two weeks prior to the evaluation. An allergy model was subsequently constructed for analysis, the results of which showed that the olive oil reduced the scores of allergic symptoms in the mice, and up-regulated the hypothermia and the decline in the immune organ index. Moreover, fewer allergy-related cytokines and reduced intestinal inflammation was discovered in the olive oil-treated group. In addition, analysis of intestinal mucosal immune-related factors revealed that the olive oil promoted the expression of intestinal tight junction proteins (Claudin-1, Occludin, and ZO-1) and IL-22, and helped maintain the integrity of the intestinal epithelial physical barrier. Increased levels of mucin 2 and beta-defensin were also found in the intestinal mucus of the olive oil-treated mice. These findings suggest that the oral administration of olive oil effectively attenuated the ovalbumin-induced allergic immune response in the mice, and had a positive effect on intestinal epithelial mucosal immunity.(c) 2023 Beijing Academy of Food Sciences. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study evaluated the anti-allergic activity of olive oil and found that it reduced allergic symptoms, increased body temperature and immune organ index, and reduced allergy-related cytokines and intestinal inflammation. Additionally, olive oil promoted the expression of intestinal tight junction proteins and IL-22, helping maintain the integrity of the intestinal epithelial physical barrier, and increased mucin 2 and beta-defensin levels in intestinal mucus.