Specific immunotherapy for food allergy: basic principles and clinical aspects.

Abstract

PURPOSE OF REVIEW:

Food allergy may be life threatening and its management continues to consist of avoiding relevant allergens and, in the case of accidental ingestion, initiation of appropriate emergency therapy. The aim of this article is to describe current treatment approaches and discuss attempts to use specific immunotherapy for food-allergy treatment.

RECENT FINDINGS:

A recent study reports the use of sublingual immunotherapy for hazelnut food allergy in hazelnut-allergic patients. A significant increase in tolerance to hazelnuts after sublingual immunotherapy as assessed by double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge, and good tolerance to this treatment, have been observed.

SUMMARY:

The purpose of this review is to highlight the most promising novel approaches for treating food allergy beyond allergen avoidance. Some of these approaches alone, such as traditional Chinese herbal medicine, anti-immunoglobulin E therapy or sublingual immunotherapy for food allergy, or the combination of different approaches, would probably offer the best treatment option for food-allergic patients in the near future.

• Authors: Ernesto Enrique, Anna Cisteró-Bahíma
• Journal: Current opinion in allergy and clinical immunology (Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol) Vol. 6 Issue 6 Pg. 466-9 (Dec 2006) ISSN: 1528-4050 [Print] United States
• PMID: 17088653 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Drugs, Chinese Herbal

Topics

• Administration, Sublingual
• Combined Modality Therapy
• Corylus (immunology)
• Desensitization, Immunologic (trends)
• Drugs, Chinese Herbal (therapeutic use)
• Humans
• Medicine, Chinese Traditional
• Nut Hypersensitivity (immunology, therapy)