Study shows immunotherapy may treat peanut allergies

by mcardinal

Lauren Dempsey, MS in Biomedicine and Law, RN, FISM News 

 

A new study published by The Lancet this week shows that children with peanut allergies may benefit from early exposure and immunotherapy. The purpose of the study was to determine if introducing small amounts of peanut powder orally could “induce desensitization” or “remission in this population.”

 The study was funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Immune Tolerance Network and included children aged 12 to younger than 4 years old that had peanut allergies. The study also included a placebo group that received oat powder.

In children that had a peanut allergy, introducing “peanut oral immunotherapy before age 4 years was associated with an increase in both desensitization and remission.” The data indicated that younger children and those with milder allergies benefit more from exposure to peanut protein. Due to this the researchers concluded that for young children there is a “window of opportunity” to initiate immunotherapy that results in remission. Most of the children in the study had reactions to the peanut powder during the study, however the majority of them were mild to moderate and many of the children were able to reach remission altogether, no longer having an allergic reaction to peanuts.

The completion of the study revealed that after 2 ½ years about 75% of trial participants could tolerate the equivalent of 16 peanuts without having an allergic reaction and six months post-treatment about one-fifth had the same tolerance. 

In the United States about 2% of children have a peanut allergy and while some children may outgrow it, for 75% to 80% this allergy is lifelong. Peanut allergies can cause severe reactions and require food avoidance. The allergy can also require medical management, such as having an Epi-pen in case of accidental exposure.

Health experts have recently found that feeding babies with foods containing peanuts can actually prevent the child from developing an allergy. 

A 2015 study, called Learning Early About Peanut Allergy (LEAP) that was conducted by researchers from King’s College of London evaluated data that compared rates of peanut allergies in Jewish children in Israel from Jewish children in the United Kingdom. The results showed that Israeli children had much lower rates of peanut allergies which correlated with the fact that they consumed higher levels of peanut products in infancy than children in the UK. 

 Dr. Daniel Rotrosen, Director of the Division of Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation said, “prior to 2008, clinical practice guidelines recommended avoidance of potentially allergenic foods” adding, “recent studies showed no benefit from allergen avoidance, the LEAP study is the first to show that early introduction of dietary peanut is actually beneficial and identifies an effective approach to manage a serious public health problem.” 

These studies are a promising development for children who suffer from peanut allergies and have the potential to greatly improve their quality of life.

While researchers believe that early treatment could have a lifelong impact on these children, they also note that regardless of the study findings, treatment should be tailored to the needs of the child.  Parents should discuss all treatment options with their physician who can help them weigh the risks and benefits of immunotherapy.   

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