Peanuts are one of the most common foods to which people are allergic
NAFTERPHOTO/SHUTtersTock
Adults with peanut allergy reduced their risk of reactions when eating some peanut protein every day as part of an essay. This approach is already approved in the US for children with the condition.
Mani allergy occurs when the immune system erroneously identifies proteins in the legume as a threat. It responds producing more IE antibodies, which are a vital part of the immune response, but they become allergic reactions. As a result, inflammation increases, causing symptoms such as swelling, itching and vomiting. In extreme cases, it can lead to an anaphylactic shock, a reaction that prolices the life that can affect the breathing of someone or its heart rate.
Until recently, the only solution was to avoid peanuts, but an intervention called oral immunotherapy for children with allergy in the USA was approved. UU. In 2020. This implies training the immune system to tolerate the Allgen when exposing it to graduate.
However, it was not clear if the approach also worked in adults. “Most of the life of an allergic mani individual is spent as an adult, but we have not received treatment to reduce their underlying reactivity to peanuts,” says Stephen Till in the King’s College London. “There are some reasons for the suspension that adults would be more difficult to desensitize than children because their immune system is easier to modify when you are younger.”
To fill this knowledge void, until and his colleagues recruited 21 adults with peanut allergy. At the beginning of the study, participants could only eat even an eighth of peanuts, in Acneage, before having an allergic reaction.
The team caused each participant to eat the equivalent protein of a 40º of a peanut every day for two weeks. This dose increased slightly every two weeks for several months, until they could safely and constantly eat the protein equivalent to four large peanuts every day for a month.
Three participants abandoned the study due to allergic reactions, while three others were due to reasons not related to treatment. “This dropout number is acceptable for this type of treatment,” says Cezmi Akdis at the Swiss Institute for Research of Allergies and Asthma.
The remaining 15 participants participated in an allergy test where they ate growing doses of peanut protein under the supervision of researchers. All but one of them were able to eat the equivalent of five peanuts without having an allergic reaction.
In another part of the experiment, the team analyzed collected blood samples from the participants before and after they received oral immunotherapy. This revealed that the intervention made them have higher levels of IgG antibodies, which counteracts the effects of IgE antibodies.
“It’s very promising,” says Akdis. “This approach could mean that adults with peanut allergy can relieve the anxiety of eating food contaminated with peanuts.”
But this was a relatively early stage test, and they need bigger to verify the results and exhibit how much the protection lasts, he says. “I would expect you to take daily or regular doses of long -term peanuts to mount allergen tolerance,” says Akdis. “People take pills every day, so I think that people affected by peanut allergies can be well attached to this type of method.”
Talk to your doctor before looking for new treatments for medical conditions.
Topics:
]