Dietary long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid induced regulatory T-cells contribute to the prevention of oral sensitization to cow’s milk protein in mice

Methods Donor mice were fed a control or fish oil diet before and during oral sensitization with whey. Acute allergic skin response, serum immunoglobulins as well as dendritic cell (DC) and T-cell subsets in mesenteric lymph nodes (MLN), spleen and/or small intestine were assessed. Besides serum transfer experiments, adoptive transfer experiments with splenocytes of whey-sensitized donor mice fed a control or fish oil diet were performed. For this purpose naïve recipient mice received splenocytes either or not ex vivo depleted of CD25+ cells, or MACS isolated CD4+CD25+ regulatory T-cells (Treg). Recipient mice were shamor whey-sensitized and fed control diet.