Eat all the PB&J sandwiches you want—as long as you have an allergy patch

Prepare to taste the rich joy of peanut butter, kids! Researchers have developed a wearable patch that administers a small amount of peanut protein through the skin to treat peanut allergies in children and young adults.

After one year, the patch using epicutaneous immunotherapy (EPIT) was found to be safe and well-tolerated with a high rate of adherence.

"To avoid potentially life-threatening allergic reactions, people with a peanut allergy must be vigilant about the foods they eat and the environments they enter, which can be very stressful," said National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony S. Fauci, MD. "One goal of experimental approaches such as epicutaneous immunotherapy is to reduce this burden by training the immune system to tolerate enough peanut to protect against accidental ingestion or exposure."

The study, led by Hugh Sampson, MD, of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, recruited 74 peanut-allergic participants ages 4 to 25. They were given a high-dose of 250 micrograms of peanut protein, a low-dose of 100 micrograms or a placebo patch. The intensity of the peanut allergy was measured at the beginning of the study with an oral sample of peanut-containing food. Participants were required to wear a new patch everyday either on their arm or between their shoulder blades.

After one year, participants were tested on the ability to consume 10 times more peanut protein than they could consume before the study on EPIT. Results showed the following:

• Some 48 percent of the high-dose and 46 percent of the low-dose group were able to consume peanut protein compared to only 12 percent of the placebo group.
• The patches showed a similar immune response to other forms of immunotherapy for food allergies.
• Patches were most effective in children ages 4 to 11, while those 12 and older had significantly less success.
• None reported having serious reactions to the patch.
• The patch had high adherence.

"The clinical benefit seen in younger children highlights the promise of this innovative approach to treating peanut allergy," said Daniel Rotrosen, MD, director of NIAID's Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation. "Epicutaneous immunotherapy aims to engage the immune system in the skin to train the body to tolerate small amounts of allergen, whereas other recent advances have relied on an oral route that appears difficult for approximately 10 to 15 percent of children and adults to tolerate."