Food-induced
anaphylaxis is a life-threatening,
IgE-mediated disease. No specific therapeutic recommendations, aside from the avoidance of offending foods, exist at this time. However, specific oral tolerance induction for
food allergy has been investigated by several groups. In this study, specific oral tolerance induction was attempted using
interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) as an adjuvant for
IgE-mediated anaphylactic
food allergies. A total of 25 patients with
IgE-mediated anaphylactic
food allergy to milk, eggs, or wheat were selected. IFN-gamma-induced specific oral tolerance induction (ISOTI) was conducted on 10 patients, while five patients were only treated with food, five patients received only IFN-gamma
therapy, and five patients did not receive any treatment. Tolerance for
IgE-mediated anaphylactic
food allergy was successfully induced in all patients (10/10) with ISOTI, while no patients acquired tolerance for allergenic foods in the control groups. Food-specific
IgE levels were increased, and skin prick test reactions significantly decreased after the completion of ISOTI. IFN-gamma-induced specific oral tolerance induction (ISOTI) is a promisingly effective treatment for
IgE-mediated anaphylactic
food allergy. IFN-gamma may be an important
cytokine in tolerance induction. Simultaneous
allergen stimulation with nonspecific
immunomodulation of IFN-gamma was essential for specific tolerance induction in
IgE-mediated anaphylactic
food allergy.