Effect of Peanut Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) on Other Food Allergen-Specific IgE Levels

RATIONALE: Since it is not known what effect peanut OIT has on other food allergen-specific IgE levels, we investigated if other food allergen-specific IgE levels are affected by peanut OIT. METHODS: Fourteen subjects (ages 26 to 106 months) participating in a peanut OIT trial with peanut allergy and detectable specific IgE measured by ImmunoCAP® to walnut, cashew, soy, or egg were evaluated at entry and at 24+ months. Significance was measured using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test. RESULTS: At entry, median IgE values were as follows: peanut (n=14) 127.0 kU/L, walnut (n=9) 4.31 kU/L, cashew (n=7) 3.87 kU/L, soy (n=8) 18.3 kU/L, and egg (n=9) 1.39 kU/L. After 24+ months, median IgE values were: peanut 22 kU/L, walnut 6.21 kU/L, cashew 10.57 kU/L, soy 2.47 kU/L, and egg 1.58 kU/L. Peanut-specific IgE decreased significantly (p=0.0001), but there were no significant changes in walnut (p=0.65), cashew (p=0.93), soy (p=0.14), or egg-specific IgE (p=0.38). CONCLUSIONS: Peanut OIT effectively reduces peanut-specific IgE but does not have an effect on walnut, cashew, soy or egg-specific IgE.