RESEARCH UPDATE: Safer Tolerance with Fewer Side Effects
SickKids researchers modify allergens in the lab as a novel way to treat kids with severe allergies.
Allergen-specific oral immunotherapy (OIT) is one of the most effective treatments in our current research arsenal against food allergy. Despite its potential, OIT has high rates of side effects and low numbers of kids who achieve tolerance. About half of the kids who enroll in OIT clinical trials do not reach the amount equivalent to a serving, while other kids are excluded from enrolling because their risk of anaphylaxis is too high.
As part of an international consortium, Dr. Eiwegger is playing a key role in developing these artificial allergens, known as hypoallergenic variants of allergens. The international task force is focusing first on developing milk and peanut hypoallergenic variants, aiming to bring them to clinical trials within five years. Next, tree nuts, the second most common allergen seen at SickKids after peanuts.
“[We’re] building tolerance … safely, more quickly, and with fewer side effects.”
The challenge is to combine allergens for eight types of tree nuts into a single package. It’s a complex and ambitious undertaking: there are about 17 different allergens for hazelnuts alone, and no-one has successfully developed this kind of multiple-allergen package. Ready for the challenge, Dr. Eiwegger anticipates it will take two to three years for the tree nut hypoallergenic variant to reach the current research phase of the peanut variant.
The goal of this innovative research is to develop safer OIT that allows more kids to participate in this therapy, especially those with severe allergies, and also to increase the percentage who develop tolerance.
