Exposure to the heavy metal cadmium is known to irritate the stomach and lungs or cause kidney disease, but new research links another health issue to inadvertently ingesting low doses of the pollutant: high activation of the antibodies that cause an allergic response.
Researchers traced this link in mice to gut bacteria that, after exposure to ingested cadmium, over-produced an enzyme that degrades vitamin D — effectively creating conditions that mimic vitamin D deficiency. In terms of clinical effects, the mice sensitized to a specific allergen that consumed cadmium produced high levels of antibodies against the allergen as well as immune cells that increased their respiratory symptoms.
Separate epidemiological research has shown an association in children between vitamin D deficiency and higher susceptibility to asthma and other allergy symptoms. And a Congressional report…
