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Background In our previous study, about 75% of cow’s milk-allergic children tolerated baked-milk products, which improved their prognosis and quality of life. Objective We sought to identify biomarkers of varying degrees of clinical tolerance among a cohort of cow’s milk-allergic children. Methods 132 subjects were initially classified as baked-milk-reactive, baked-milk-tolerant or “outgrown milk allergy” based on oral food challenges. The baked-milk tolerant group was then divided into 3 groups based upon the amount and degree of heat-denatured milk protein that they could tolerate. Serum was analyzed for allergen-specific IgE and IgG4, basophil reactivity was assessed in whole blood stimulated with serial 10-fold dilutions of milk protein, and prick skin tests were performed to commercial milk extract. Activated basophils were defined using flow cytometry as CD63brightCD203c+CD123+HLA-DRdim/−CD41a− lineage−. Data were analyzed using the Jonckheere-Terpstra test. Results Significant differences across the five clinical groups were seen for median casein- and milk-specific IgE, casein-specific IgG4 and casein IgE/IgG4; milk-specific to non-specific basophil activation ratio, median basophil reactivity, and spontaneous basophil activation (CD203c expression following stimulation with RPMI); and milk PST wheal diameters. Casein- and milk-specific IgE, milk-specific basophil reactivity and milk prick skin test wheal diameter are all significantly greater among milk-allergic patients who react to baked-milk than among those who tolerate it. Conclusions The majority of milk-allergic patients are able to tolerate some forms of baked-milk in their diets. Different phenotypes of cow’s milk-allergic children can be distinguished by casein- and milk-specific IgE, milk-specific basophil reactivity, and milk prick skin test mean wheal diameters. Spontaneous basophil activation is greater among patients with more severe clinical milk reactivity.

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14 of those (77.8%) maintained an eliciting dose of > _1000 mg at month 38. Local patch-site skin reactions were common but decreased over time. There was no treatment-related epinephrine use in years 2 or 3. Compliance was high (96.9%), and withdrawals due to treatment-related adverse events were low (1%). Conclusions: These results demonstrate that daily EPIT treatment for peanut allergy beyond 1 year leads to continued response from a well-tolerated, simple-to-use regimen. (J