Immune mechanisms of peanut allergy remission

Summary Immune mechanisms of peanut allergy remission

Project Details

Food allergies are a major health burden globally, and Australia has the highest reported rates of food allergy in the world. There is currently no cure so research has focused on identifying approaches to redirect allergen-specific immune responses away from allergy towards a tolerant state, which can support clinical remission of allergy.    Several therapies under investigation can induce remission, which may be transient or long lasting. The immune changes of long-lasting remission are unknown; understanding the key factors that lead to long-lasting remission will enable development of effective long-term treatments for food allergy. We have been investigating a combination treatment, Probiotic and Peanut Oral Immunotherapy (PPOIT), which has been shown to induce long-lasting remission that persists to 4 years post-treatment. By contrast, published reports of peanut oral immunotherapy (OIT) without immunological adjuvant suggest that OIT-induced remission may be short-lived, with two thirds (67%) of treatment responders losing their remission state by 12 months post treatment.

The aim of this project is to use a combination of gene expression and flow cytometry approaches to understand the immune mechanisms involved in retraining the allergic response towards long-lasting remission of peanut allergy. Gene expression and flow cytometry data will be generated on immune cells before and after intervention in 1) patients who achieve remission of peanut allergy remission following PPOIT treatment 2) patients who achieve remission of peanut allergy following standard OIT 3) patients who remain allergic to peanut following placebo treatment. Findings will provide clues of key immune factors that drive lasting remission of allergy compared to remission that is lost over time, which may in turn lead to development of more effective long-term treatments for food allergy.