03 Mar After Outgrowing One Food Allergy, Some Patients Develop Second Allergic Reaction to Same Food

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jonathan M. Spergel, M.D., Ph.D.
The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Chief, Allergy Section
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Spergel: We were examining patients with Eosinophilic Esophagitis, an unique food allergy of the esophagus.   We found a subset of patients, who in the past had IgE mediated reaction to the food (hives, anaphylaxis) and had outgrown it.  Two-three years after outgrowing the food, then the patients developed Eosinophilic Esophagitis to the same food.
MedicalResearch.com: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Dr. Spergel: Yes, this finding indicated two important things:

1. You can get two different reactions to the same food.
2. The mechanism of the reactions for IgE-mediated reactions and Eosinophilic Esophagitis are different.

MedicalResearch.com:  What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Spergel: For patients and clinician, if someone has outgrown the food allergy.  But, then gets new symptoms, it could be the food that they had outgrown.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Spergel:  This research raises two important questions.

1. How often does this happen?  How many patients that outgrown their food allergy will develop a different reaction to the same food?
2. Is there a better to treat patients with Eosinophilc Esophagitis or food allergy due to this difference in mechanism?

Citation:

Maggadottir et al, “Development of Eosinophilic Esophagitis to Food after Development of IgE Tolerance to the Same Food, abstract 990, presented March 2, 2014 at the AAAAI Annual Meeting.

Last Updated on March 19, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD