The study results show that kids may be able to safely be around peanuts long-term
A new study funded by the National Institutes of Healths National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) explored what opportunities exist to help kids who have peanut allergies aside from just avoiding peanuts.
The researchers learned that gradually eating small amounts of peanut butter proved to be a safe and effective way for peanut-allergic kids to tolerate peanut butter without any kind of allergic reaction.
Children with high-threshold peanut allergy couldnt participate in previous food allergy treatment trials, leaving them without opportunities to explore treatment options, NIAID Director Jeanne Marrazzo, M.D., M.P.H. said in the news release.
[This] report focuses on this population and shows that a very safe and accessible form of therapy could be liberating for many of these children and their families.
The study
To qualify for the study, the children had to have a peanut allergy and were required to tolerate the equivalent of half of a peanut. Ultimately, 73 children between the ages of 4 and 14 were involved in the study, and they were divided into two groups those who tried the new peanut therapy and those who continued avoiding peanuts.
For those trying the new peanut therapy, the process went like this: every day, they ate teaspoon of peanut butter, with the amount of peanut butter increasing every eight weeks. By the end of the trial, the children were eating either one tablespoon of peanut butter or the equivalent in a different peanut product.
The children were required to go to the study site for their peanut butter dose increases, so they could be medically supervised in case of an emergency.
Overall, none of the children in the test group needed emergency intervention when eating the peanut butter at home, while just one child needed epinephrine during the dose increase at the study site.
By the end of the trial, the children who had been exposed to peanut butter fared better in terms of tolerance than those who had continued avoiding it.
All 32 children who had been gradually exposed to peanut butter could tolerate 9 grams of peanut protein or three tablespoons of peanut butter. By contrast, only three of the children in the avoidance group could do the same.
Does the effect last?
To get a better understanding of whether or not this peanut tolerance lasted, the researchers did a follow-up experiment with the children who had received the peanut therapy during the first part of the study.
For 16 weeks, the children were required to eat at least two tablespoons of peanut butter every day, and then remove it from their diets completely for eight weeks. After eight weeks, the researchers again tested their tolerance for peanuts.
Of the 30 children involved in this part of the study, 26 of them (nearly 87%) showed no signs of an allergic reaction after consuming 9 grams of peanut protein.
With these positive results, the researchers are curious to see if this same therapy is successful with other food allergies.
Posted: 2025-02-14 20:51:21
