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.