Environmental determinants of immune tolerance in asthma and allergy

Abstract

Prevalence of allergic diseases has increased globally, reflecting environmental and behavioral changes. The exposome concept encompasses cumulative chemical, microbial, nutritional, psychosocial, and physical exposures across the life course, offering a unifying framework to understand how immune tolerance is shaped or disrupted. Emerging evidence highlights that early-life exposures are particularly critical. Pollutants, endocrine disruptors, microbial deprivation, dietary shifts, and psychosocial stress contribute to barrier dysfunction, dysbiosis, and immune dysregulation, favoring Th2 dominance and allergy development. In contrast, exposures that enhance biodiversity, microbial diversity, pollution-free air, and balanced nutrition support active tolerance development, especially via regulatory T cells. Mechanistic insights point to the barrier–microbiota–immune axis as central pathways linking the environment to allergic outcomes. Translational studies, including biodiversity enrichment interventions, maternal and infant dietary strategies, and microbiome-based therapies, illustrate the potential of exposome-informed approaches to allergy prevention. However, major challenges remain in measuring complex exposure mixtures, identifying causal pathways, and integrating exposome data with systems immunology. This review synthesizes current knowledge on how the exposome modulates immune tolerance and outlines future research directions toward precision prevention. A deeper understanding of these interactions is essential to address the rising global allergy burden.