Why Doesn't The Immune System Attack Food? Israeli Scientists Have Found The Answer
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Researchers from an Israeli institute have identified special immune cells that help the body treat food as harmless, preventing inflammation from everyday meals
Why doesn't our immune system attack the food we eat? To solve this mystery, scientists in Israel have discovered a group of special immune cells that help the body digest food safely, without triggering a harmful response. These newly identified cells play a crucial role in preventing the immune system from attacking food, a process known as oral tolerance.
According to news agency Xinhua, researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science (WIS) in Israel found that these immune cells ensure food is treated as harmless, thus preventing inflammation caused by everyday meals. This discovery could pave the way for better understanding and treatment of food-related conditions.
A Step Closer to Curing Food-Related Illnesses
The findings may open new possibilities for treating diseases such as food allergies, intolerances, and coeliac disease. By understanding how this immune tolerance works, scientists hope to identify what goes wrong when the immune system mistakenly treats food as a threat.
What Experts Say
Dr Ranit Kedmi from Weizmann's Department of Systems Immunology explained the discovery using an analogy: 'It's like a peace agreement. If an attacker crosses the border and fires a bullet, the army will still respond—despite the agreement. Similarly, the immune system has a mechanism that allows it to tolerate food, but it can still respond when needed."
For years, scientists believed that certain immune cells called dendritic cells were responsible for oral tolerance. But when these cells were removed in animal studies, the immune system continued to tolerate food, suggesting that other cells were involved.
In a study published in the Journal Nature, researchers identified a rare group of immune cells known as ROR-gamma-T cells as key players in this process. These cells trigger a chain reaction involving four types of immune cells, which ultimately prevents the body's attacking cells—called CD8 cells—from responding to food proteins.
What Happens When the System Fails?
When this system doesn't function properly, it can lead to conditions like food allergies or autoimmune responses to foods, such as gluten in coeliac disease.
Interestingly, the researchers also found that during infections, the body can temporarily override oral tolerance to fight harmful microbes.
Dr Kedmi also mentioned: 'It turns out the immune system has a much more divided structure than we thought. It's not just dendritic cells deciding whether to attack or not, some highly specialised cells are responsible for starting the process that allows us to eat safely."
First Published:
May 28, 2025, 16:07 IST
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