Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergic Patients

Greetings to friends and supporters of the Center for Allergy at Shamir (Assaf Harofeh).
Some time has passed since our last update, and indeed we have been quite busy in the
interim. This report should fill you in regarding some of our recent and ongoing activities
First as described in our last update, we have begun work on our project to study the gut
microbiome (micro-organism populations) of patients who are undergoing treatment for
walnut allergy at our center. While most of the recruited patients are still in the early stages
of treatment, we have collected initial stool samples from them, and are planning to test
these and subsequent samples in cell culture, for immune-associated activity. Our
collaborators in Tzfat, Israel will determine the specific microbiome compositions of the
patient samples. Overall, we anticipate that this research will highlight some of the
mechanisms of oral immunotherapy (OIT), promoting an understanding of how it works in
retraining the body to tolerate allergy-inducing foods.
Secondly the director of our center, Professor Elizur has received funding from the Israel
Ministry of Health to study the potential for human milk oligosaccharides (HMO) to facilitate
successful milk OIT treatment in exceptionally sensitive allergic patients. We hypothesize
that milk allergic patients who initially did not succeed in OIT could benefit from treatment
with milk containing HMO sugars that are naturally present in human breast milk. These
sugars have been shown to serve as a prebiotic, promoting growth of normal gut micro-
organisms, which help to maintain the integrity and function of the human gut.  Considering
the potential severity of milk allergy and the complications in its treatment by OIT, improved
treatment options could be life-changing for affected patients.
Finally, continuing the theme of life-changing, I would like to share with you the story of TK,
a summer student in our lab. TK came to Israel on a post high school program, and as
someone living with food allergies herself, she was very interested in experiencing our work
first hand. As part of her work, TK learned about the different allergy tests we perform, and
assisted us in analyzing their data for our research on deriving improved allergy diagnostic
algorithms. While here, TK decided to undergo testing herself. Remarkably, the specialized
blood test we perform on basophils and the skin prick test provided strong evidence that TK
was no longer allergic to milk or eggs, foods that she had avoided since childhood. She
performed oral food challenges at our clinical center which confirmed that she was no
longer allergic to either food!! Upon returning home, TK reports that she has "eaten an
omelette, mac and cheese, Ice coffee, pizza, toast with both cream cheese and butter,
yogurt and can’t wait to try everything else!" We wish TK all the best as she begins her
university studies in biochemistry (with many more culinary options available to her). And
we are glad that we were able to provide an environment highlighting how the scientific
research and clinical aspects of our work make a difference in the quality of life of allergic
patients.
Lots more is afoot at the Center for Allergy and Immunology, and your support can make a
difference in accomplishing some of our goals. Thank you, and I look forward to sharing
more developments with you in the next report.