(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- If you’re one of the 1.5 million people in the United States suffering from a peanut allergy, there’s good news. Experts anticipate some form of immunotherapy for peanut allergy to be available within the next five years.

Peanut allergy is becoming more common, but it is unknown why. In the United States, the prevalence in young children doubled from 0.4 percent in 1997 to 0.8 percent in 2002. Worldwide, it affects roughly one percent of children under the age of five years.

When those with the allergy ingest peanut protein, it causes the immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies in the immune system to release molecules, like histamines, that trigger an inflammatory response. Almost all initial reactions involve the skin, about half involve the respiratory tract and one-third affect the gastrointestinal tract. Children are typically diagnosed at 14 months of age.
 

Researchers say they are looking at genetically modified plants to produce hypoallergenic peanuts, however there are some limitations. “The process of altering enough of the peanut allergens to make a modified peanut that is less likely to cause an allergic reaction would probably render the new peanut no longer a peanut,” Wesley Burks, M.D., a professor at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., was quoted as saying.

Future treatments are all focused on trying to reduce the immune response or make the immune system tolerant to the food allergen. Immunotherapy using engineered peanut proteins and ingesting the food regularly in increasing amounts are both potential approaches.

SOURCE: The Lancet, 2008;371:1538-1546