Possible cure found for peanut allergy

Food allergies have risen by about 350% in recent decades, and while most allergies can often be resolved during childhood this is not the case with peanuts. Peanut allergies affect 3% of Australian infants, and this will usually persist throughout their lifetime and can be life-threatening in cases of anaphylaxis.

Published in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, a follow-up study by Prota Therapeutics suggests probiotic and peanut immunotherapy (PPOIT) treatment could build long-term resistance against allergic reactions to peanuts. Licensed from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), the PPOIT treatment introduced the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus in conjunction with peanut protein to encourage a protective response from the immune system.

Over 18 months, 56 randomised children in the initial trial in 2013 were given either a combination of the probiotic and peanut protein in increasing amounts or a placebo to assess whether this could increase their tolerance levels.

Chief Scientific Officer and lead researcher of the PPOIT treatment Professor Mimi Tang found that by the end of the trial over 80% of children who received the treatment could tolerate peanuts, compared to just 4% of children in the placebo group. The children whose tolerance levels had increased were instructed to continue to consume peanuts in their daily diet; however, those who were still exhibiting allergic reactions were told to continue avoiding peanuts.

Four years later, a follow-up study was funded by MCRI and the Australian Food Allergy Foundation and received a $15 million funding commitment in 2016 from OneVentures. This fund was established as part of the federal government’s Biomedical Translation Fund initiative. The follow-up study revealed that the oral treatment was still effective.

“Of the PPOIT-treated participants who achieved short-term tolerance at the end of the original trial, 80% were still eating peanuts without symptoms and 70% had long-lasting challenge-proven tolerance four years after stopping treatment.

“Over half were consuming moderate to large amounts of peanut on a regular basis, others were only eating peanut infrequently. The importance of this finding is that these children were able to eat peanuts like children who don’t have peanut allergy and still maintain their tolerant state, protected against reactions to peanut,” Professor Tang explained.

Not only did 83% of participants report no allergic reactions throughout the four years, but none experienced anaphylaxis.

Dr Suzanne Lipe, CEO of Prota Therapeutics, suggested that if the results are confirmed in a larger Phase III study, this oral treatment could see a huge shift in the future management of peanut allergies.

“Rather than using therapy that protects against accidental ingestion, Prota’s products aim to provide sustained long-term effects and the ability to include peanut in the diet. For the first time, we could have products on the market that provide meaningful and long-lasting treatment benefits, which allow sufferers to eat peanut products without thinking about it, as part of a regular diet just like unaffected people,” Lipe said.

Prota Therapeutics plans to build on these positive results to develop a product that can be made widely available on the commercial market. The PPOIT treatment could not only change the way peanut allergies are treated, but it also holds important implications for attacking other modern food allergies.