Food specific oral immunotherapy: a potential treatment for food allergy

Abstract

Food allergy is a potentially life-threatening condition affecting up to 8% of children and up to 2% of adults in westernized countries. There are currently no approved treatments for food allergy apart from avoidance. The apparent increase in incidence of food allergies over the past few decades calls attention to the need for effective, disease-modifying therapies for food allergies. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is a promising experimental treatment in which food allergic patients consume increasing quantities of food in attempt to increase their threshold for allergic reaction. Studies are ongoing to determine whether OIT is capable of safely inducing not only desensitization but also tolerance to the allergenic foods. This article focuses on recent relevant studies of OIT for the treatment of common food allergies.

Anti-Allergic Compounds from the Deep-Sea-Derived Actinomycete Nesterenkonia flava MCCC 1K00610

“…Presently, with the increasing prevalence of food allergies, anti-allergic testing is becoming increasingly commonplace [27]. However, there are no approved treatments other than avoidance [28,29]. Dietary intervention is a crucial component of food allergy management but can negatively impact nutrient intake and may influence growth and development [30].…”

Polyketides from the Deep-Sea-Derived Fungus Graphostroma sp. MCCC 3A00421 Showed Potent Antifood Allergic Activities

“…Over the past several decades, the worldwide increasing incidence of food allergies has become a potentially life-threatening condition, especially for children . Unfortunately, currently there are no approved treatments other than avoidance. , Therefore, it is urgent to search for antifood allergic drugs from nature. In our ongoing research to discover structurally novel compounds from deep-sea-derived microorganisms with potent biological activities, , the fermentation extract of Graphostroma sp.…”

Balancing Tolerance or Allergy to Food Proteins

“…Critically, IL-10-expressing Tregs, including the Tr1 subset of pTregs that are generally FoxP3 negative [62], were increased upon relevant allergen stimulation in natural tolerance patients but not in allergic individuals. Importantly, this type of outgrowth seems to reflect a true conversion from reactivity to life-long tolerance while many attempts to induce tolerance by immunotherapy approaches have predominantly resulted in desensitization and return of reactivity on cessation of treatment [63]. …”