Advances in the Treatment of Food Allergy: Sublingual and Epicutaneous Immunotherapy

Abstract

Food allergies continue to increase in prevalence. Standard care is a strict elimination diet, but life-threatening reactions still occur. Allergen immunotherapy has the most potential in treating food allergy. Subcutaneous immunotherapy has not been adopted into food allergy therapy. Oral immunotherapy has a high rate of adverse reactions. Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) uses the tolerogenic environment of the oral mucosa and epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT) uses the immune cells of the epidermis to transport antigens to afferent lymph nodes to activate immune responses. SLIT and EPIT can successfully desensitize patients. More research is needed to define optimal doses and administration protocols.

Keywords: Allergen immunotherapy (AIT); Desensitization; Epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT); Food allergy; Oral tolerance; Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT); Sustained unresponsiveness.