title: Advances in food allergy oral immunotherapy: toward tolerance.
abstract: The incidence of food allergy, a disease characterized by adverse immune responses that can render common foods life-threatening, is rising. Yet our current standard of care is simply avoidance of allergenic foods and administration of emergency medications upon accidental exposure. Significant advances have been made in food allergy oral immunotherapy, which is emerging as a potential preventive and curative treatment for this disease. The fundamental strategy of oral immunotherapy is to mitigate adverse immune responses to allergenic food proteins through repeated exposure; reduced reactivity to food allergens (desensitization) often results, but the establishment of sustained immune unresponsiveness or of permanent resolution (tolerance) is not certain. This review examines exciting recent developments in oral immunotherapy for food allergy.
authors.affiliation: Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Deborah M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Hussey Freeland
authors.affiliation: Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fan-Minogue
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA; Division of Allergy and Immunology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Spergel
authors.affiliation: Division of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Talal A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Chatila
authors.affiliation: Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy and Asthma Research at Stanford University, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA. Electronic address: knadeau@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Kari C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Nadeau
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000707:Anaphylaxis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000818:Animals; D003888:Desensitization, Immunologic / Q000379:methods*; D004032:Diet; D004837:Epinephrine / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005502:Food / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D004837:Epinephrine