Preventing peanut allergy: where are we now?

Peanut allergy affects 1% to 3% of the Western world, usually begins in early childhood, is rarely outgrown, and has no currently approved treatment. The identification and application of prevention strategies is therefore essential. In 2015, the Learning Early About Peanuts study findings found that early consumption of peanut protein was effective in preventing peanut allergy in […]

Sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value of oral mucosal brush biopsy for the diagnosis of peanut allergy.

BACKGROUND: Current diagnostic testing methods for peanut allergy, including serum specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE) and skin-prick testing (SPT), have low specificity, whereas oral food challenge (OFC) carries significant risk of provoking adverse events. Mucosal brush biopsy (MBB) from the oral cavity is currently being studied as a new diagnostic test for peanut allergy, but normative […]

Peanut Allergy in Spanish Children: Comparative Profile of Peanut Allergy versus Tolerance.

BACKGROUND: Peanut storage proteins (Ara h 1, Ara h 2, and Ara h 3) have been described as the major peanut allergens in children, although not all peanut-sensitized individuals have clinical reactivity after exposure. OBJECTIVES: We studied the sensitization profile of peanut-allergic and peanut-tolerant children in a pediatric cohort. METHODS: The clinical features and sensitization […]

Nut sensitization profile in Southern Taiwan.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: To evaluate the relationship between serum-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) to peanuts/tree nuts and their clinical manifestations in atopic diseases. METHOD: Serum from people with the classical symptoms of asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR), or atopic dermatitis (AD) was collected for the measurement of serum-specific IgE to peanuts, cashew nuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, and coconuts. Cases […]

The functional biology of peanut allergens and possible links to their allergenicity

Peanut is one of the most common food triggers of fatal anaphylaxis worldwide although peanut allergy affects only 1-2% of the general population. Peanuts are the source of highly potent allergenic proteins. It is emerging that the allergenicity of certain proteins is linked to their biological function. Peanut is an unusual crop in that it flowers above […]

Chemically modified peanut extract shows increased safety while maintaining immunogenicity.

BACKGROUND: Peanuts are most responsible for food-induced anaphylaxis in adults in developed countries. An effective and safe immunotherapy is urgently needed. The aim of this study was to investigate the immunogenicity, allergenicity and immunotherapeutic efficacy of a well characterized chemically modified peanut extract (MPE) adsorbed to Al(OH)3. METHODS: Peanut extract (PE) was modified by reduction […]

Identification of almond (Prunus dulcis) vicilin as a food allergen.

Almond is one of the tree nuts listed by US FDA as a food allergen source. A food allergen identified with patient sera has been debated to be the 2S albumin or the 7S vicilin. However, neither of these proteins has been defined as a food allergen. The purpose of this study was to clone, […]

Different thermal processing effects on peanut allergenicity.

BACKGROUND: Peanut allergy is one of the most common food allergies worldwide. Studies have shown that the incidence of peanut allergies in Western-born Asians is higher than that in Asia-born Asians. Notably, Europeans and Americans mostly eat roasted peanuts, whereas Asians mostly eat boiled or fried peanuts. RESULTS: BALB/c mice were sensitized using purified protein […]