Oral Immunotherapy has generated much excitement in food allergy community but it's not ready for clinical use yet

There is no approved therapy for food allergy. The current standard of care consists of:

- elimination of the triggering food from the diet
- accessibility to epinephrine

Immunotherapy for food allergy is a promising treatment approach. While desensitization to most foods seems feasible, it remains unclear if a permanent state of tolerance is achievable.

The Duke University data show that immunological changes associated with immunotherapy include:

- reduction in mast cell reactivity
- decreased basophil responses
- decreased specific-immunoglobulin (Ig)E
- increased IgG4
- induction of regulatory T cells

Mechanisms of allergen-specific immunotherapy (click to enlarge the image):



Immunotherapy has generated much excitement in the food allergy community; however, further studies are needed before it is ready for clinical use.

References:

Immunology in the Clinic Review Series; focus on allergies: immunotherapy for food allergy.

Mousallem T, Burks AW. Clin Exp Immunol. 2012 Jan;167(1):26-31. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.2011.04499.x.

Oral immunotherapy (OIT) for food allergy - Twitter summary from 2012 #AAAAI meeting