Recent advances in food allergen immunotherapy

Abstract

Food allergies can pose significant risks and profoundly impact the quality of life of children and their families, making them a major public health concern. Allergen avoidance has been the traditional mainstay of treatment; however, recent research has focused on various approaches to food allergen immunotherapy. This review summarizes the recent advancements in oral, sublingual, and epicutaneous immunotherapies, highlighting their respective advantages and disadvantages. The ultimate goal of food allergen immunotherapy is to maximize efficacy while minimizing risks, leading to the exploration of strategies such as low-dose immunotherapy and the use of biologics. When selecting candidates for immunotherapy among patients with food allergies, factors such as allergen characteristics, the likelihood of natural resolution, age, symptom severity, and impact on quality of life require consideration, and an individualized approach should be adopted to determine the most suitable treatment method.

Keywords: Epicutaneous immunotherapy; Food allergy; Oral immunotherapy; Sublingual immunotherapy.

Fig. 1.

Various types of food allergen immunotherapies are currently being attempted, including oral, oral combined with biologics, oral with low doses of allergens for enhanced safety, sublingual, and epicutaneous. The safety and efficacy of these approaches reportedly vary, with better results observed in younger age groups. EPIT, epicutaneous immunotherapy; LOIT, low-dose oral immunotherapy; OIT, oral immunotherapy; OIT+OMB, oral immunotherapy with omalizumab; SLIT, sublingual immunotherapy