Food Allergy: Recent Advances in Pathophysiology and Treatment
- 1 February 2009
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Annual Reviews in Annual Review of Medicine
- Vol. 60 (1), 261-277
- https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.med.60.042407.205711
Abstract
Food allergies, defined as an adverse immune response to food proteins, affect as many as 6% of young children and 3%–4% of adults in westernized countries, and their prevalence appears to be rising. In addition to well-recognized acute allergic reactions and anaphylaxis triggered by IgE antibody–mediated immune responses to food proteins, there is an increasing recognition of cell-mediated disorders such as eosinophilic gastroenteropathies and food protein–induced enterocolitis syndrome. We are gaining an increasing understanding of the pathophysiology of food allergic disorders and are beginning to comprehend how these result from a failure to establish or maintain normal oral tolerance. Many food allergens have been characterized at a molecular level, and this knowledge, combined with an increasing appreciation of the nature of humoral and cellular immune responses resulting in allergy or tolerance, is leading to novel therapeutic approaches. Currently, management of food allergies consists of educating the patient to avoid ingesting the responsible allergen and initiating therapy if ingestion occurs. However, numerous strategies for definitive treatment are being studied, including sublingual/oral immunotherapy, injection of anti-IgE antibodies, cytokine/anticytokine therapies, Chinese herbal therapies, and novel immunotherapies utilizing engineered proteins and strategic immunomodulators.Keywords
This publication has 90 references indexed in Scilit:
- The role of protein digestibility and antacids on food allergy outcomesJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2008
- CD4 T cells activated in the mesenteric lymph node mediate gastrointestinal food allergy in miceAmerican Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology, 2007
- Anti-IgE treatment of eosinophil-associated gastrointestinal disordersJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2007
- Traditional Chinese herbal remedies for asthma and food allergyJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2007
- Probiotics for the prevention or treatment of allergic diseasesJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2007
- Food allergy: a practice parameterAnnals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, 2006
- DC-SIGN Mediates Binding of Dendritic Cells to Authentic Pseudo-LewisY Glycolipids of Schistosoma mansoni Cercariae, the First Parasite-specific Ligand of DC-SIGNJournal of Biological Chemistry, 2005
- Anatomical basis of tolerance and immunity to intestinal antigensNature Reviews Immunology, 2003
- Expression of transforming growth factor β1, transforming growth factor type I and II receptors, and TNF-α in the mucosa of the small intestine in infants with food protein–induced enterocolitis syndromeJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2002
- Utility of food-specific IgE concentrations in predicting symptomatic food allergyJournal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 2001