Oral Peanut Immunotherapy

Massachusetts General Hospital30 enrolled

Overview

Peanut allergy is one of the most serious food allergies because of its life long persistence, and the potential for severe allergic reactions. Effective oral immunotherapy would benefit patients by reducing the likelihood that they will have life-threatening accidental allergic reactions. This research study is being done to develop an effective oral immunotherapy treatment for patients with peanut allergy.

Our hypothesis is that chronic antigen exposure during peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) will induce beneficial changes in the specific immune response, including: 1) anergy of IgE effector immune cells (e.g., mast cells, basophils) resulting in clinical desensitization; 2) induction of de novo, long lived (memory) B cell responses that antagonize specific IgE and confer immune tolerance. The investigators will test this hypothesis in the following specific aims: 1. Induce desensitization in peanut allergic subjects with peanut OIT and evaluate the safety of the peanut OIT desensitization protocol. 2. Induce long-standing tolerance in peanut allergic subjects with maintenance peanut OIT and evaluate the efficacy of allergen-specific testing to predict tolerance. 3. Longitudinally evaluate basophil and mast cell reactivity in subjects receiving peanut OIT and their relationship to the induction of desensitization. 4. Longitudinally evaluate the allergen-specific B-cell repertoire in subjects receiving peanut OIT and its relationship to the induction of tolerance.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Peanut Allergy

Interventions

Peanut flour OITDRUG

Patients will receive daily escalating dosages (Peanut flour OIT) as determined in the modified rush phase as stated in the protocol. The dosage will be escalated until a daily dose of 4000 mg is reached. A Double-blind, placebo-controlled food challenge will then consist of two challenges performed on the same day. One challenge will consist of 7 doses of peanut given every 10-20 minutes in increasing amounts up to a total of 10 grams of whole peanut (5 grams of peanut protein) masked by inclusion in vehicle food. The other challenge will consist of placebo material given similarly.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 7 YearsMax age: 21 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion criteria: 1. Diagnosis of peanut allergy by a positive prick skin test to peanut (\> 8 mm reaction wheal) or CAP FEIA \>10 and a history of objective clinical symptoms within one hour after ingestion of peanuts 2. Ability to provide informed consent. 3. Males and females of all ethnic/racial groups between 7 and 21 years who are otherwise healthy. Exclusion criteria: 1. Clinical history of a severe anaphylactic reaction known or suspected to be caused by ingestion of peanut that required treatment with 2 or more administrations of epinephrine or hospitalization 2. Moderate to Severe Asthma as defined using the Impairment or Risk Criteria of the current NHBLI Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/asthma/) 3. Poorly controlled Asthma as defined using the Control Criteria of the current NHBLI Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Asthma (http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/asthma/) 4. Diagnosis of other severe or complicating medical problems 5. Autoimmune or chronic immune or gastrointestinal inflammatory conditions, including Celiac Disease, Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Eosinophilic Gastrointestinal Disorders 6. Primary Immune Deficiency 7. Use of beta blockers, angiotension converting enzyme inhibitors, or monoamine oxidase inhibitors 8. Women of childbearing potential who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or breastfeeding 9. Use within the past year of other systemic immunomodulatory treatment, including allergen immunotherapy, use of biologics with an immune target, including Xolair

Locations (1)

Food Allergy Center; Massachusetts General Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Tolerance or Sustained Unresponsiveness

The consumption of 5 grams of peanut protein during a double-blind placebo controlled food challenge without objective symptoms after one month of post treatment avoidance

Time frame: at least 36 months

Secondary Outcomes

Desensitization

The consumption of 5 grams of peanut protein during an open food challenge without objective symptoms immediately post treatment

Time frame: at least 36 months

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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