Oral immunotherapy for food allergy in childhood

At present there is no definitive therapy for food allergy and the mainstays of treatment are allergen avoidance and ready access to emergency medications. Significant progress toward an novel oral immunotherapy (OIT)for food allergy has been made. These preliminary data on OIT are encouraging, OIT can be effective in desensitizing at least a subset of children with IgE-mediated food allergy, however, it remains uncertain whether OIT can induce long-term tolerance. During OIT, allergic reactions are common, although severe reactions are less common. Additional studies are needed to realize whether tolerance would be maintained, and to determine the specific laboratory indicators in rigorous multicenter randomized and placebo-controlled trials. Key words: Food allergy;  Oral immunotherapy;  Tolerance;  Desensitization