Abstract
Objective Sesame allergy is the most prevalent allergy to seeds. Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is defined as continuous consumption of an allergen at special doses and time. Omalizumab (Anti-IgE) increases tolerance to allergens used in OIT. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a new sesame OIT protocol in patients with sesame anaphylaxis in combination with omalizumab.
Methods In this prospective open-label interventional trial study, 11 patients with a history of sesame anaphylaxis were enrolled after confirmation by oral food challenge (OFC) test. At baseline, skin prick test (SPT) and skin prick to prick (SPP) test were performed. Serum sesame-specific IgE (sIgE) levels were measured. The maintenance phase was continued at home with daily sesame intake for 4 months. At the end of month 4, the OFC and above-mentioned tests were repeated to evaluate the treatment effectiveness.
Results All 11 patients who underwent sesame OIT after 4 months could tolerate a dietary challenge of 22 ml tahini (natural sesame seed, equal to 5,000 mg of sesame protein and higher) and the average of wheal diameter in the SPT and SPP tests significantly decreased after desensitization.
Conclusion This OIT protocol may be a promising desensitization strategy for patients with sesame anaphylaxis. Also, omalizumab appears to have reduced the severity of reactions.
Footnotes
Availability of data and materials
All data acquired or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Written informed consent was obtained from the patient and the information remained confidential and anonymous.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing Interest
The authors of this study declare no competing interest.
Funding
This research received no specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or non-profit sectors.
Author Contributions
Fe.Sa conceived the study; MHB, MF, SAM, S.Sh., MN, SA were responsible for the patient care and data collection. Fe.Sa. and MK analyzed and interpreted the data. Fa.Se. drafted the manuscript and revised it for important intellectual content. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
- Received December 1, 2021.
- Revision received March 12, 2022.
- Revision received March 21, 2022.
- Accepted June 20, 2022.
