title: Food allergy in gastroenterologic diseases: Review of literature.
abstract: Food allergy is a common and increasing problem worldwide. The newly-found knowledge might provide novel experimental strategies, especially for laboratory diagnosis. Approximately 20% of the population alters their diet for a perceived adverse reaction to food, but the application of double-blind placebo-controlled oral food challenge, the "gold standard" for diagnosis of food allergy, shows that questionnaire-based studies overestimate the prevalence of food allergies. The clinical disorders determined by adverse reactions to food can be classified on the basis of immunologic or nonimmunologic mechanisms and the organ system or systems affected. Diagnosis of food allergy is based on clinical history, skin prick tests, and laboratory tests to detect serum-food specific IgE, elimination diets and challenges. The primary therapy for food allergy is to avoid the responsible food. Antihistamines might partially relieve oral allergy syndrome and IgE-mediated skin symptoms, but they do not block systemic reactions. Systemic corticosteroids are generally effective in treating chronic IgE-mediated disorders. Epinephrine is the mainstay of treatment for anaphylaxis. Experimental therapies for IgE-mediated food allergy have been evaluated, such as humanized IgG anti-IgE antibodies and allergen specific immunotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e delle Patologie Emergenti, Via del Vespro n degree 141, Palermo 90127, Italy. pamansu@unipa.it
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mansueto
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Montalto
authors.forename: Maria-Luisa
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Pacor
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Esposito-Pellitteri
authors.forename: Vito
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Ditta
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lo Bianco
authors.forename: Stefania-Maria
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Leto-Barone
authors.forename: Gabriele
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Di Lorenzo
mesh_terms: D000707:Anaphylaxis / Q000188:drug therapy; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007073:Immunoglobulin E / Q000097:blood; D007167:Immunotherapy; D012882:Skin Tests
chemical_list: D006634:Histamine H1 Antagonists; D007073:Immunoglobulin E; D004837:Epinephrine