As a youngster I knew nothing of what a peanut allergy was. However, I was an avid reader of Charles M Schulz’s comic strip ‘Peanuts’, featuring Charlie Brown and Snoopy. In fact, my whole family was, to the point that we’d regularly buy the paperback editions of the collected strips.
The titles of these almost always featured either Snoopy’s or Charlie Brown’s name. Here Comes Charlie Brown and Good Ol’ Snoopy spring to mind. But a few of them featured the comic strip’s actual title. One I can remember was Peanuts For Everybody.
Peanut allergy is still relatively uncommon, but its western world prevalence certainly rose in the decades after the 1970s. Exposure to peanuts for those who are allergic can be very dangerous – even fatal – so precautionary measures are important.
Avoiding peanuts altogether is an obvious solution but, even with the greatest of care taken, accidents can happen. Better still would be protection against the allergen, and a new Australian trial hopes to turn that into a reality.
Australian peanut allergy breakthrough trial
In conjunction with California-based biotechnology company IgGenix, an Australia-wide trial of a new peanut allergy blocker is about to begin. The trial is open to Aussies aged 15 to 55 who have already been clinically diagnosed with a peanut allergy.
These participants will be injected with engineered allergy ‘blockers’. These blockers are re-engineered antibodies, based on the very antibodies that form part of the allergic reaction. The natural antibodies flood the body when the immune system mistake peanuts for a harmful intruder. However, the re-engineered version converts block the allergy rather than attack the body.
The hope is that when the blockers are injected, they will protect the patient from future allergic reactions.
IgGenix chief executive Dr Jessica Grossman describes the intended mechanism in terms that evoke images of science fiction.
“Our antibody therapeutic kind of acts like a heat-seeking missile,” she said. It will, “latch on to peanut very tightly and not let that peanut go on to cause an allergic reaction in humans”.
Early indications are that a course of four injections could protect the patient for up to a year. If that proves to be the case, it will represent a significant breakthrough in peanut allergy treatment.
Phase 1 trials of the treatment will get underway this week. They will run nationwide for a period of three months. Four institutions – Fiona Stanley Hospital, St Vincent’s Hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital, and Monash Health – will collaborate to run the trial.
Fiona Stanley consultant immunologist Michael O’Sullivan said: “This is a really significant step forward in providing potential future treatment. [It] will actually take away that risk of having allergic reactions and anaphylaxis from accidentally eating peanuts.”
Could this treatment make reactions a relic of the past?
It’s probably too early to answer such a question with any great certainty but that is the ultimate aim. Clinical trials generally go through four phases and the current one is a Phase 1 version.
So there’s a fair few hurdles to be leapt and hoops to be jumped just yet. Nevertheless, the day on which the book title from my childhood – ‘Peanuts For Everybody!’ – can be shouted without fear, might just be getting closer.
Do you have a peanut allergy? Would you be willing to take a course of preventative injections? Let us know via the comments section below.
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Health disclaimer: This article contains general information about health issues and is not advice. For health advice, consult your medical practitioner.
Hopefully this trial could lead to treatment for other forms of allergies, ie. Shellfish, chicken, eggs etc.