TITLE:
Pathophysiological Justification for Allergen Immunotherapy in Food Allergy
AUTHORS:
Marta Chełmińska, Katarzyna Puźniakowska
KEYWORDS:
Food Allergy, Immunotherapy, Allergy, Pathophysiology
JOURNAL NAME:
Food and Nutrition Sciences,
Vol.7 No.4,
April
28,
2016
ABSTRACT: Apart from avoiding exposure, allergen immunotherapy (AI) is the only causal method of treating
allergic diseases. The results of numerous studies have been published concerning the safety and
effectiveness of the AI in treating allergic rhinitis, asthma or allergy to the venom of Hymenoptera
insects. It has also been proven that administration of increasing preparation doses of allergen
extractions alleviates the symptoms in patients after the exposure to some sensitizing allergens.
The effect of the AI remains visible many years after completion of the therapy. Studies have been
done in an attempt to employ specific immunotherapy in patients with food allergy symptoms.
They have been mostly concerned with populations of patients suffering from allergy to the protein
found in cow’s milk and hen eggs. It appears that a need arises to create a new therapeutic
method for successful treatment of food allergies and specific allergen immunotherapy seems to
be a promising step. Although still in its experimental phase, in many well documented cases the
method allows for building patient’s tolerance towards small doses of sensitizing allergen and
seems conducive to protecting the patient from anaphylactic reactions after incidental allergen
consumption.