A review of food allergy panels and their consequences.

Serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) assays to food specific IgE (s-IgE) are useful tools for the confirmation of clinical suspicion of food allergy. However, the specificity of these assays is poor given that sensitization is much more common than clinical food allergy. Therefore, the use of broad panels to assess sensitization to multiple foods often leads to overdiagnosis and unnecessary food avoidance.

Food Allergy Immunotherapy with Adjuvants.

Treatment of immunoglobulin E-mediated food allergy has traditionally been limited to allergen avoidance and emergency treatment after accidental ingestion. In recent years, significant progress has been made with oral, sublingual, and epicutaneous immunotherapy in the treatment of food allergy; however, these emerging treatment options have important limitations in efficacy, durability of effect, and safety. These limitations have already spurred interest in the development of adjuvant therapies to increase efficacy, produce more durable immunologic changes, and/or reduce treatment-related adverse reactions.

Management of peanut allergy: a focus on novel immunotherapies.

The management of peanut allergy involves strict avoidance, prompt recognition of allergic reactions, and rapid initiation of epinephrine and other supportive therapy for anaphylaxis. Avoidance presents several challenges and burdens to quality of life and daily activities. Currently, no treatment options are available for peanut allergy apart from epinephrine, which is the treatment of choice for severe allergic reactions.

Food-Induced Anaphylaxis: an Update.

Purpose Of Review: This review aims to provide an update of recent advances in the epidemiology, clinical features and diagnosis, and management of food-induced anaphylaxis (FIA).

Recent Findings: Food allergy prevalence and FIA rates continue to rise, but FIA fatalities are stable. Basophil and mast cell activation tests promise more accurate identification of food triggers.

Current Status of Potential Therapies for IgE-Mediated Food Allergy.

Purpose Of Review: The goal of this review is to provide the reader with an updated summary of published trial data regarding the use of oral immunotherapy (OIT), sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT), and epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT) for treatment of IgE-mediated food allergies.

Recent Findings: Data from phase 2 trials for treatment of peanut allergy with OIT and EPIT reveal an increase in the threshold of reactivity for peanut-allergic children. Compared to EPIT, OIT promotes a greater increase in the threshold of reactivity; however, adverse events are more common with OIT.

Interventional Therapies for the Treatment of Food Allergy.

Treatment of IgE-mediated food allergies is limited to allergen avoidance and emergency treatment on accidental ingestion, which is not uncommon. In recent years, interest in interventional therapies to treat food allergy has increased significantly. Although oral, sublingual, and epicutaneous immunotherapy have shown promise in studies, none is approved as therapy for food allergy to date and questions remain regarding efficacy, safety, dosing, and duration of therapy.