title: Immunotherapy in food allergy: towards new strategies.
abstract: Allergen avoidance is the standard treatment for managing food allergies. Complete avoidance is difficult, and accidental exposure often occurs. Immunotherapy is a significant focus for treating food allergies, and oral immunotherapy (OIT) appears to be particularly effective in inducing desensitization. The majority of patients who receive OIT show increased threshold doses of their food allergen. The efficacy of OIT is different among food antigen, and milk OIT is relatively difficult to achieve tolerance. OIT may induce mild to moderate symptoms during the therapy, widespread acceptance of OIT for long-term therapy is unclear. Recently, novel immunotherapies for food allergies, such as sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT), and epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT) and using an anti-IgE monoclonal antibody (omalizumab), have been assessed. In addition, a combination of OIT with omalizumab, which was found to increase the threshold doses of the offending foods without producing adverse reactions, may be effective and useful in the treatment of food allergies. These treatments have been used only in research settings; further studies in large numbers of patients are needed to demonstrate their long-term safety and benefits in clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Research Center for Allergy and Rheumatology, Sagamihara National Hospital, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Sakura
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Noriyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yanagida
authors.forename: Kiyotake
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ogura
authors.forename: Tomoyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Asaumi
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: Yumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Koike
authors.forename: Katsuhito
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iikura
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Syukuya
authors.forename: Motohiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ebisawa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018926:Anti-Allergic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000941:Antigens / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003888:Desensitization, Immunologic / Q000379:methods*; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000187:drug effects*; D000069444:Omalizumab
chemical_list: D018926:Anti-Allergic Agents; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D061067:Antibodies, Monoclonal, Humanized; D000941:Antigens; D000069444:Omalizumab