Soy isoflavones may mitigate peanut allergy symptoms

Monday, 15 August 2011 10:24

Dietary soy isoflavones have been found to significantly reduce the anaphylactic symptoms and mast cell degranulation in mice sensitized to and challenged with peanut. Serum peanut-specific antibodies were markedly reduced in mice fed a diet containing the isoflavones genistein and daidzein compared with those mice fed a soy-free diet.

The results, obtained by researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, point to the possible use of dietary supplementation of soybean isoflavones as a novel strategy to prevent the development of allergic reactions to food.

Reference: Masilamani et al. 2011. The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2011.05.009.