Oral Immunotherapy for Food Allergic Patients

There have been quite a few developments in recent months at the Center for Allergy at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center (renamed Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center), so it is a great time for an update!

After much effort we have recently moved our food preparation operations to an expanded and fully-dedicated facility. This relocation provides room to prepare and store food doses for more patients undergoing oral food challenges or oral immunotherapy (OIT) for food allergy, than was possible previously. The facility's location is adjacent to the allergy clinic, allowing for the efficient delivery of doses to the clinic. Overall, the facility expansion has come at an opportune time, as we anticipate a steady increase in demand for OIT in the short and long term. There are currently 236 patients undergoing an active OIT program (114 to milk, and 122 to other foods). Our treenut treatment program continues its growth with twenty-nine patients in active treatment, and forty patients who acheived complete desensitization (60% to walnut, and 20% each to cashew and hazelnut). And we continue to enroll patients in the egg (16 current patients), sesame (24 patients) and peanut (53 patients) programs.

Our clinical acheivements have also directed some of our recent research efforts. The immunolgical mechanisms that allow for successful OIT to occur are complex and are still not clear. Many of the patients consented to provide blood and sera samples before and after treatment. This has allowed us to look for changes in the allergic reactivity of histamine-releasing cells, known as basophils, in response to OIT, and to investigate potential mechanisms behind them. Patient sera contain antibodies which recognize specific food proteins. Some antibodies (IgE-type) are responsible for the development of allergy, and others (IgG4-type) are more associated with food tolerance. Patient sera obtained before and after OIT may provide some insight into the food proteins that can lead to allergy to particular foods, and whether patients undergoing OIT alter their food protein-recognizing antibody profiles from IgE to IgG4-type.

As always, we thank you for your support of this unique and vital project. Please continue to spread the word about our work.