Therapy helps kids with peanut allergies to endure a tablespoon of peanut butter

News Release

Monday, February 10th, 2025

The NIH trial informs children's potential treatment strategies that already tolerate more than half of peanuts.

By gradually increasing the amount of store-bought self-measured peanut butter for about 18 months, 100% of children with peanut allergies, initially equivalent to at least half of the peanuts, will have 3 tablespoons of peanut butter without an allergic reaction. I was able to consume the cup of peanut butter. Researchers report. This easy-to-implement treatment strategy can meet unmet needs for about half of children with peanut allergies. The findings come from a trial sponsored and funded by the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National Institutes of Health, and are published in the journal today. record.

“Children with higher peanut allergies were unable to participate in previous food allergies treatment trials and were unable to have the opportunity to explore treatment options,” safe and accessible forms of treatment are: It could be freed for many children and their families. ”

Food allergy treatments currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration have been tested in children with low-threshold peanut allergies who cannot withstand even half of the peanuts equivalent. These treatments are designed to reduce the likelihood of a response to small amounts of peanuts, despite efforts to avoid them, as they may occur with accidental exposure. This approach is irrelevant to an estimated 800,000 US children who may have a higher peanut allergy. Before the new report, leave only one management strategy before peanut evasion.

To address this need, researchers tested whether low-cost, convenient treatment strategies can help children with peanut allergies to withstand far more peanut protein than they have already done. . The midterm exam included 73 children aged 4-14. Based on parent or guardian reports, nearly 60% of children were white, 19% were Asian, 1.4% were black, and 22% were multiple races. The research team randomly assigned children to test new treatment strategies or continue to avoid peanuts.

People in the peanut intake group started with a minimum daily dose of 1/8 teaspoon of peanut butter. They gradually increased one tablespoon of peanut butter or different peanut products, such as peanut flour and candies, gradually every eight weeks. Dose increases occurred under medical supervision at the research site. None of the children in the peanut-intake group needed epinephrine to treat severe allergic reactions during their home administration. They also required epinephrine during supervised administration visits at the research site.

After receiving a treatment regimen, children who consumed peanuts participated in an oral food challenge where research teams carefully overseen how much peanut butter they could eat without an allergic reaction. All 32 children who participated in the challenge can withstand the maximum amount of 9 grams of peanut protein, equivalent to 3 tablespoons of peanut butter. In contrast, only three of the 30 children in the avoidance group who received oral food challenges after a similar time in the trial were able to withstand 9 grams of peanut protein. Three children from the avoidance group tolerated at least two tasks than they could withstand at the start of the study.

The trial took place during the Covid-19 pandemic, with some families preferring to avoid close indoor contact with others at that time. As a result, some children did not return to the research site due to oral food challenges. General statistical methods are used to explain the outcomes of missing tasks. 100% of the intake group and 21% of the avoidance group tolerated at least two doses from the beginning.

Children in the peanut intake group, who can withstand 9 grams of peanut protein during the oral food challenge, consumed at least two tablespoons of peanut butter each week for 16 weeks, then avoided peanuts entirely for eight weeks. At that point they were asked to return to the research site for their final oral food challenge.

Of the 30 treated children who participated in the final task, 26 (86.7%) continued to withstand 9 grams of peanut protein, indicating that they achieved a sustained no-response to peanuts. Three children in the avoidance group were able to eat 9 grams of peanut protein without responding to previous tasks, which were thought to have developed natural tolerance to peanuts. Analysing these results, investigators including all 73 children who began trials, whether they participated in the final task or not, found that 68.4% of the peanut intake group achieved a sustained response; We found that only 8.6% of the avoidance group developed natural resistance.

Based on the results of these encouragement, researchers would like to learn whether the same treatment strategy works with food allergens other than peanuts. Future follow-up is required to determine the effectiveness of treatments in inducing long-term peanut resistance.

Scott H. Schicheller, Maryland and Julie Wang, Maryland, led a trial at the Elliott and Rosslyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute at Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital, New York. Dr. Schicheller is the institute's director and Professors Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe of Childhood Allergy and Immunology. He is also the Head of Allergy and Immunology Department and Medical Director of the Department of Allergy and Immunology at the Conduit Translation Science Institute of ICAHN Medical School in Mount Sinai. Dr. Wang is a professor of pediatric allergy and immunology at Elliott and Rothlyn Jaffe Food Allergy Institute.

Details of the clinical trial, known as the Cafeteria Study, are available under the study identifier at ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT03907397.

NIAID conducts and supports research from NIH across the United States and around the world to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases and develop better means to prevent, diagnose and treat these diseases. I will. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are Niaid Website.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH):The national medical research institute, the NIH, includes 27 research institutes and centers, and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is a leading federal agency that conducts and supports basic, clinical, and translational medical research, investigating the causes, treatments and treatments for both common and rare diseases. Visit us for more information about NIH and its programs www.nih.gov.

NIH… Turning discoveries into health^®

###