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Immunologic Similarities between Selected Autoimmune Diseases and Peanut Allergy: Possible New Therapeutic Approaches

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Abstract

Food allergies are an important medical problem in Westernized countries. Allergy to peanuts is a dramatic example of a food allergy that tends to be particularly severe and long-lived. This article examines food allergy—specifically peanut allergy—from the perspective that tolerance to foods is a normal state, just as tolerance to self-proteins is a normal state. From this vantage point, loss of tolerance to foods in food-allergic individuals can be viewed as parallel to the loss of tolerance to self-proteins in those with autoimmune diseases. Although our knowledge base is far from satisfactory, there are important similarities in the immunologic abnormalities that are characteristic of both peanut allergy and several autoimmune diseases. Delineation of these similarities may open the door to new therapeutic approaches for the treatment of severe food allergies.

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Acknowledgment

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant RO1-AI052164 (to Dr. Dreskin).

Disclosure

Dr. Martucci and Dr. Dreskin have served on the American Board of Allergy and Immunology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine, Campus Box B164, 12700 East 19th Avenue, Room 10002, Aurora, CO, 80045, USA

    Michael A. Martucci & Stephen C. Dreskin

  2. Division of Allergy and Immunology, Department of Medicine, National Jewish Health, Denver, CO, USA

    Michael A. Martucci

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  1. Michael A. Martucci
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  2. Stephen C. Dreskin
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Correspondence to Stephen C. Dreskin.

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Martucci, M.A., Dreskin, S.C. Immunologic Similarities between Selected Autoimmune Diseases and Peanut Allergy: Possible New Therapeutic Approaches. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep 11, 334–339 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11882-011-0201-z

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