Peanut allergy to be treated … with peanuts

CHILDREN are to be given a little of what does them harm in the biggest trial of immunotherapy for peanut allergy ever to be conducted.

The 1 million British study follows earlier research indicating that peanut allergy can be overcome – with peanuts.

Gradually building up tolerance with small amounts of peanut protein appears to dampen down the potentially fatal allergic reaction.

Now the idea is to be tested for the first time on a large scale with 104 British children aged seven to 17 suffering from peanut allergy.

Their "medicine" will be increasing doses of peanut flour added to yoghurt.

Tiny quantities of peanut, starting at about one milligram, will be built up slowly until the children are eating the equivalent of five nuts a day. Some of the children are severely allergic and would normally be at risk of life-threatening symptoms from such exposure.

Dr Andrew Clark, from Cambridge University, who is leading the study, said: "This is going to be the largest trial of its kind in the world and it should give us a definitive idea of whether the approach works and whether it's safe.

"It's based on our successful pilot study where we showed 21 out of 23 kids were effectively desensitised to peanuts."

Allergy to foods such as peanuts can induce a potentially fatal inflammatory reaction called anaphylaxis.

Nut allergy is the commonest cause of anaphylaxis among younger age groups, placing around one in 50 children at risk. The number of children vulnerable to the reaction has increased dramatically in the developed world over the past ten years.

Dr Clark's pilot trial recruited 23 children shown to suffer an allergic reaction to the equivalent of less than one peanut.

They were started off on one milligram of peanut each day, increasing the amount every two weeks until they could tolerate five nuts, or 800 milligrams.

This amount was then taken daily as a maintenance treatment for at least six weeks. Most of the children responded well, despite developing short-term mouth itching or stomach pains.

All but two children were eventually able to eat at least five peanuts a day with no ill effects.

Six months after the start of the study, 83 per cent of the group were able to tolerate 12 peanuts at one go. A year on, 88 per cent could safely eat 32 peanuts. As a result they no longer had to screen food labels and be wary of what they were eating.

The new trial, funded by the Department of Health's Institute of Health Research, will run for three years.

If the study is successful, consideration will be given to making the treatment widely available.