Experimental treatment could protect kids against peanut allergies

After participating in a yearlong clinical trial about peanut allergies, two-thirds of the young participants are now able to ingest the equivalent of two peanuts a day without any adverse reactions.

The results of the study were announced Sunday during the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology conference in Seattle. The oral immunotherapy regimen did not work for all participants — 20 percent of the children involved had to leave the trial — and is not a cure for peanut allergies, but does aim to reduce sensitivity to peanuts, so a child that accidentally comes into contact with one does not suffer a major reaction.

For six months, 372 participating children, under medical supervision, were slowly exposed to peanut protein, starting with the smallest of doses and taking more as their tolerance increased. They then went through an additional six months of maintenance therapy. Two-thirds of the participants were able to ingest 600 milligrams or more of peanut protein, the equivalent of two peanuts, without developing any symptoms of an allergy. Of the 124 children given placebo powder, just four percent could consume that amount without having a reaction.

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Peanut allergies affect 1 in every 50 American children, causing more deaths from anaphylaxis than any other food allergy, The New York Times reports. The treatment is being developed by Aimmune Therapeutics, with the study set to be published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine.