New Treatments on the Horizon for Food Allergies

ORLANDOThe Big Eight" allergenstree nuts, peanuts, soy, fish, shellfish, dairy, egg and wheataccount for 90% of all food allergies, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there was an 18% increase in reported food allergies between 1997 to 2007. And the number of affected individuals is growing, leading market-research firms to estimate the global food allergy and intolerance sector is on track to top $26 billion by 2017.

And while controlling food allergens in a food manufacturing system is of utmost importance, new research presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) shows promise for a treatment that could make it possible for people with food allergies to eat trigger foods without having allergy symptoms.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Childrens Center examined two potential treatmentssublingual immunotherapy and oral immunotherapy. They found children with severe milk allergy who received a longer schedule of sublingual immunotherapy and then moved to oral immunotherapy had less respiratory reactions along with less frequent use of certain medications.

While the overall result of the study, which was recently published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, found that oral was far more effective than sublingual immunotherapy, it was also clear that oral was associated with more significant allergic reactions to the treatment," said senior study author Robert A. Wood, MD, FAAAAI, director of Allergy & Immunology at Johns Hopkins Childrens Center.

In previous research, sublingual was compared to oral immunotherapy after a short period of increasing sublingual doses. The same researchers from Johns Hopkins and Duke University decided to see if a longer period on sublingual and then oral immunotherapy would improve the safety of the treatment. Thirty children with cows milk allergy were randomly placed into two groups that received either a short or longer sublingual schedule followed by oral immunotherapy. Eight sublingual subjects moved over to oral immunotherapy. After comparing reactions across the doses, they concluded the longer sublingual schedule before moving to oral immunotherapy appeared to improve safety although it did not eliminate all symptoms. Symptoms occurred with approximately 25% of 2,251 doses.

While the overall rates of reaction between the two groups were similar, the longer sublingual immunotherapy group followed by oral immunotherapy had fewer lower and upper respiratory reactions and used antihistamines and inhaled beta-agonists less frequently.

We continue to search for the best approach for the treatment of food allergy. This study shows that for at least some children, especially those with more frequent or severe reactions to oral immunotherapy, beginning treatment with sublingual might be beneficial," Wood said.