Khaberni - A Canadian study has found that children with peanut allergies may not need high doses of immunotherapy.
High doses of this treatment are given orally to children to build effective protection against legumes, but the results showed that small doses are sufficient to reduce the risk of severe complications when peanuts are accidentally eaten, with fewer side effects compared to the standard doses currently followed.
Oral immunotherapy aims to increase the amount of peanuts a child can consume before symptoms of allergy appear, protecting them from accidental exposure. Children start with small quantities that gradually increase until reaching a maintenance dose that is regularly consumed to maintain the benefit.
To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of low maintenance doses during the study published in the journal "The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology", researchers from Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto and Montreal Children's Hospital divided 51 children with peanut allergies into three groups:
Low-dose treatment: 30 mg maintenance, standard dose treatment: 300 mg maintenance, and complete avoidance of peanuts: no treatment.
The results showed that both immunotherapy treatment groups experienced a significant and equal increase in the body's ability to tolerate peanuts, confirming that consuming small amounts is better than complete avoidance for training the immune system to manage allergies.
Dr. Julia Upton, head of the Immunology and Allergy department at Sick Kids Hospital said, "We discovered that maintenance doses can be much lower than we thought, and still achieve positive outcomes. The more options available, the more we can provide care tailored specifically for each child."
The researchers also found that children in the low-dose group (30 mg) experienced fewer side effects and none of them withdrew from the treatment, making it easier to continue treatment even for children who do not like the taste of peanuts.
Dr. Thomas Eiwegger, one of the study's senior authors, stated: "This is the first time we compare standard doses with a very low dose, and the effective minimum might be less than 30 mg. Some families may prefer to stay on low doses, while others may choose to gradually increase the dose depending on their goals."
Dr. Moshe Ben Shoshan, the study's senior author, affirmed that: "The results suggest that very small amounts of peanuts, associated with minimal allergic reactions, might be as effective as large doses, making the treatment safer and possibly accessible to more children with severe allergies."
This study is an important step towards developing safe and effective oral immunotherapy protocols for peanuts, aiming to broaden the possibility of benefiting children from this treatment and protecting them from accidental exposure to peanuts.
