Fig. 1

Experimental timelines of PNA and CMA models. 6-week-old female C3H/HeOuJ mice were randomly allocated to the control- and experimental groups: sham-sensitized control group;, sensitized control group;, FOS supplemented group; oral immunotherapy group; and the oral immunotherapy with FOS supplementation group. Mice were i.g. sensitized to the cow’s milk protein whey or PE (20 mg whey in 0.5 ml or 6 mg PE in 2 ml PBS) with cholera toxin as an adjuvant (15 μg in 0.5 ml PBS). The FOS supplemented diet was provided from D35 to the end of the protocol and OIT with 10 mg whey or 1.5 or 15 mg PE in 0.5 ml PBS was given from D42-D59 (5 oral gavages/week for 3 weeks). Acute allergic symptoms were measured upon i.d. challenge at D64 (10 μg whey or 1 μg PE in 20 μl PBS/ear), mast cell degranulation was measured upon i.g. challenge at D70 (50 mg whey or 15 mg PE in 0.5 ml PBS) and an i.p. challenge (50 μg whey or 100 μg PE in 200 μl PBS) was conducted at D77 to stimulate T cell responses prior to organ collection. At 6 time points throughout the animal experiment (D0, D35, D50, D63, D71 and D78), subgroups of mice from each control- and experimental group were killed by cervical dislocation and blood and organs were collected. PE; peanut extract, CT; cholera toxin, OIT; oral immunotherapy, FOS; fructo-oligosaccharides, i.d.; intradermal, i.g.; intragastric, i.p.; intraperitoneal, LP; lamina propria of small intestine, SCFA; short-chain fatty acids