Peanut Allergy Cure 2017 News: Experimental Immunotherapy Could Be Key in Eliminating Anaphylaxis
Australian researchers at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute recently made a breakthrough in curing peanut allergy in children. A small clinical trial using an experimental immunotherapy treatment resulted in the subjects being cured of their allergy.
Forty-eight children were given a combination of a probiotic, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, with a peanut protein daily. The protein was given in increasing doses, or a placebo, for 18 months.
One month after the treatment was finished, 80 percent of the children could tolerate peanuts without any allergic reactions. Four years later, 70 percent of them could still consume peanuts without suffering any side effects.
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According to lead researcher Mimi Tang, half the children were eating peanuts regularly. The other half were only eating them infrequently. However, none of them were following any particular program of peanut consumption following the treatment.
Cases of food allergies have been on the rise over the past few decades. Peanut has been among the most common causes of anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction. Sadly, the majority of the fatalities involving peanut allergy have consisted mostly of children who accidentally ingested the food.
To fight this, Tang pioneered a new form of treatment which combines peanut oral immunotherapy with a probiotic. Also known as probiotic with peanut oral immunotherapy (PPOIT), the method works the same way as vaccines.
Instead of avoiding the allergens, the treatment is designed to introduce them to the immune system in weakened doses. The goal is to reprogram the immune system to develop a tolerance to the peanut proteins, preventing a fatal auto-immune reaction.
"The importance of this finding is that these children were able to eat peanuts like children who don't have peanut allergy and still maintain their tolerant state, protected against reactions to peanuts," Tang said. "This is a major step forward in identifying an effective treatment to address the food allergy problem in Western societies."
