Peanut allergy treatment provides protection but not cure research says
King’s College London researchers working on a life-changing treatment for peanut allergy said they were able to reduce patients’ sensitivity to the nut using immunotherapy but could not get rid of the allergy altogether.
Peanut oral immunotherapy (POIT) involves giving the patient a small amount of peanut every day, which prompts the immune system to produce antibodies that reduce the body’s allergic response, so if they were accidentally exposed to a small amount of peanut, they could tolerate it and are less at risk of a serious reaction.
As part of the study, researchers examined samples from peanut allergy sufferers who had undergone the therapy and found that, when the protective antibodies were stripped away from the allergy cells, they were still as reactive as ever. Backing up the theory that immunotherapy can provide some protection but cannot ‘cure’ allergies.
Lead author, Dr Alexandra Santos, King’s College London and Evelina London Children’s Hospital said patients would need to continue with the therapy in order to maintain the protection. She said:
‘Currently, immunotherapy is the only treatment option we can offer peanut-allergic patients, mostly through clinical trials as this is not yet available on the NHS
‘It can be delivered by ingestion (oral immunotherapy), under the tongue (sublingual) and applied to the skin as a patch (epicutaneous immunotherapy). To a greater or lesser extent, the different forms of peanut immunotherapy can make allergic patients less sensitive, which can protect them from accidental exposure, but patients remain allergic
‘Peanut oral immunotherapy can confer some protection to accidental exposure to peanuts as a result of the so-called ‘blocking antibodies’ and it’s shown by the reduction in the reaction of allergic cells after treatment.
‘If we remove these ‘blocking antibodies’ we could see that the cells are still as reactive as before, confirming that the patients were still allergic and need to keep going with the POIT regimen to maintain the protection.’
Peanut allergy is the most common cause of food allergy deaths, affecting around 1 in 50 children in the UK. There is currently no cure and standard management involves strict peanut avoidance, which has been shown to severely affect the quality of life.
Amena Warner, head of clinical services at Allergy UK welcomed the news, saying it will bring hope to those affected by the allergy. She said:
‘Fear of a life-threatening severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis), anxiety and stress associated with managing a peanut allergy has a serious impact of the quality of life.
‘Having new treatments to address risks of accidental exposure by tolerating small amounts of peanut protein can bring hope to those affected by peanut allergy.
‘This may not be a cure (hopefully one day one will be found) but immunotherapy is a positive step in providing treatment to give a level of protection where previously one had not existed. Allergy UK exists to support people affected by allergy.’
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