Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergic Patients

Hello and welcome to another update from the Center for Allergy at Assaf Harofeh (Yitzhak Shamir) Medical Center. This time of year is always busy at the Center. With Passover approaching, the staff here is working diligently to make sure that the food doses are properly prepared in sufficient quantities, so that patients can continue their oral immunotherapy (OIT) programs throughout the holiday. Additionally, during Passover, many observe traditional dietary restrictions, which can be somewhat challenging for those with food allergies. The physicians, nurses, and dieticians on staff at the Center can guide patients and their families to ensure that they are able to have a safe and enjoyable holiday.

Research is also continuing apace in our laboratory. One area of current interest is that of allergen identification. While food allergy is often thought to relate to a food as a whole, in reality, allergy is driven by IgE-antibody reactivity to particular components in the food. The identification of these components, known as allergens, is important, because reactivity to particular components may help to better categorize an allergy in terms of its severity, or co-incidence with other food allergies. In a joint effort with scientists at ThermoFisher, we have identified some allergens whose IgE-antibody reactivity is associated with pecan allergy, in comparison with walnut allergy. We have found that pecan allergy always manifests with walnut allergy, while walnut allergy can manifest without pecan allergy. Thus, reactivity to the allergens in question may indicate a more severe allergic state. Importantly, in a recently-accepted manuscript, we report that IgE-antibody reactivity to some of these allergens is lower after successful completion of OIT, whereas IgG4-antibody reactivity (associated with protection from allergic reactions) is higher after OIT. In future work, we hope to identify allergens that are specific for other treenuts, ultimately using these identifications to develop accurate methods for treenut allergy diagnosis.

With your support, we continue these and other projects, with the goal of understanding and effectively treating food allergy. Thank you!