Peanut allergens.

Peanut allergens have the potential to negatively impact on the health and quality of life of millions of consumers worldwide. The seeds of the peanut plant Arachis hypogaea contain an array of allergens that are able to induce the production of specific IgE antibodies in predisposed individuals. A lot of effort has been focused on […]

Tree nut allergens

Tree nuts are considered as part of a healthy diet due to their high nutritional quality. However, they are also a potent source of allergenic proteins inducing IgE mediated hypersensitivity often causing serious, life-threatening reactions. The reported prevalence of tree nut allergy is up to 4.9% worldwide. The general term "tree nuts" comprises a number […]

Tree Nut Allergies: Allergen Homology, Cross-reactivity, and Implications for Therapy.

Tree nut allergy is a potentially life-threatening disease that is increasing in prevalence, now affecting 1% of the general population in the United States. While other food allergies often resolve spontaneously, tree nut allergies are outgrown in less than 10% of cases. Due to the likelihood of cross-sensitization to multiple tree nut allergens, the current […]

Advances in the Approach to the Patient with Food Allergy.

Advances in food allergy diagnosis, management, prevention and therapeutic interventions have been significant over the past two decades. Evidence based national and international guidelines have streamlined food allergy diagnosis and management, while paradigm shifting work in primary prevention of peanut allergy has resulted in significant modifications in the approach to early food introduction in infants and toddlers. […]

Preventing Peanut Allergy.

The rising prevalence of food allergy and specifically peanut allergy has had significant implications for affected patients, families, and society. The current standard of care remains strict avoidance and the use of emergency medications for accidental ingestions. There is recent evidence-based information to suggest that one approach to preventing peanut allergy lies in early introduction of peanut. This represents a […]

" To Screen or not to Screen": Comparing the Health and Economic Benefits of Early Peanut Introduction Strategies in Five Countries.

BACKGROUND: Early peanut introduction (EPI) in the first year of life is associated with reduced risk of developing peanut allergy in children with either severe eczema and/or egg allergy. However, EPI recommendations differ among countries with formal guidelines. METHODS: Using simulation and Markov modeling over a 20-year horizon to attempt to explore optimal EPI strategies […]

Changes in immunoreactivity of allergen-reduced peanuts due to post-enzyme treatment roasting.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of enzyme treatment and post-enzyme treatment roasting on allergenicity of raw peanut kernels. Raw peanuts were treated by single- and two-enzyme treatments, respectively. Enzyme-treated raw peanuts were dry roasted. Reductions of four major allergens (Ara h 1, 2, 3, and 6) and in vitro allergenicity of peanuts […]

Food Allergy.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The goal of this review is to present an updated summary of the natural history of major childhood and adult food allergies and report recent advances in potential treatments for food allergy. RECENT FINDINGS: The most common childhood food allergies are typically outgrown by adolescence or adulthood. However, peanut/tree nut allergies appear […]

Clinical presentation of cashew nut allergy in a paediatric cohort attending an allergy clinic in the West of Ireland.

BACKGROUND: Cashew nut (CN) allergy appears to be increasing. Reactions are variable and may include anaphylaxis. AIM: To describe the clinical features of CN allergy in a group of children attending an allergy clinic with suspected peanut allergy and confirmed sensitisation to CN. METHODS: Patients were identified retrospectively by reviewing the Immunology Database at University […]