なぜアレルギー疾患は増加しているのか？ : 栄養学の立場より

Allergy, in the form of atopic diseases such as atopic eczema, allergic rhinitis, and asthma, is a chronic disorder of increasing importance in the developed countries. Although several environmental exposures, including dietary factors, infection, and microflora, have been implicated in the cause of allergic diseases, these relationship remains unclear. In respect to dietary factor, one of the candidates that contribute to the disease is polyunsaturated fatty acid because many reports showed that n-3 fatty acids have property to suppress the inflammatory immune response. Therefore, it is possible that intake of fatty acids at unsuitable n-3/n-6 ratio causes the allergic disease. Other than fatty acid, it has shown that higher concentrations of vitamin E intake are associated with lower serum IgE concentration and a lower frequency of allergen sensitization.