Nonallergen-specific treatments for food allergy

This review summarizes recent reports on nonallergen-specific therapies for food allergy. These therapies are especially appealing for food allergy because unlike allergen-specific immunotherapy, they would allow the treatment of multiple food allergies in a single patient with one therapy.

Chinese herbal therapy, anti-IgE, probiotics, engineered lactic acid bacteria, and helminth therapy are all examples of allergen nonspecific therapies that have been investigated in recent years. Although some have only been studied in animal models of food allergy, some are undergoing rigorous, human clinical trials.

Increasing amounts of research are examining the efficacy and safety of nonallergen-specific therapies for food allergy. There is hope that clinicians will have effective treatments either as an alternative or as an adjunct to immunotherapy.