A Safe and Effective Method for Wheat Oral Immunotherapy.

At present the only available management for food allergy is avoidance; however, abstaining from allergic foods can affect the quality of life. Oral Immunotherapy (OIT) is an efficient method for increasing tolerance towards food allergens. The aim of this study was desensitizing patients above five years of age with wheat allergy and evaluating the safety and efficacy of OIT for children with IgE-mediated wheat allergy. The method of Rush Oral Immunotherapy (ROIT) was performed on 8 anaphylactic wheat allergic patients as well as outpatient method on 5 non-anaphylactic ones. In ROIT, build-up phase was performed during several days, but in outpatient, the amount of ingestion gradually increased to 5.2 g wheat protein within several weeks. After that, maintenance doses were prescribed daily for 3 months. Then, if the oral food challenge (OFC) was negative, the patients were considered to be in desensitized state, which meant they had to continue eating same doses without interruption. In ROIT, build-up phase continued for about 4.6 days during which, 21 from 71 doses, showed clinical symptoms (29.6%). On the contrary, outpatient method lasted approximately 72.4 days in which 356 doses were used and symptoms developed in only 9 doses (2.5%). In total -regardless of type of build-up phase- 12 patients could complete the maintenance phase with 1080 doses that 28 of them (2.6%) developed mild symptoms. Our OIT study proved to be safe and effective, although it is utterly evident that further investigation on more patients is necessary.

Long-term evaluation of a historical cohort of Iranian common variable immunodeficiency patients.

OBJECTIVES: Common variable immune deficiency (CVID) is the most frequent form of symptomatic primary immunodeficiency disease, characterized by hypogammaglobulinemia, recurrent infections and increased predisposition to autoimmunity and malignancies. The aim of this study was to reconsider important points of previously performed studies on Iranian CVID patients diagnosed and followed from 1984 to 2013. METHODS: Diagnosis was made using approved criteria including reductions of serum levels of immunoglobulins and exclusion of well-known single gene defects in individuals with an age >4 years and evidence of specific antibody deficiency. RESULTS: Detailed information on demographic data, survival rates, clinical phenotypes, immunologic and genetic data and treatment of 173 patients are provided. The early onset presentation (74.5%) and rate of consanguineous marriage (61.2%) were considerably higher in our cohort. Our study revealed clinically related correlations regarding consanguinity, the population of naïve CD4(+) T cells and switched-memory B cells, cytokine levels and special genetic factors (including HLA and AID genes). CONCLUSION: Despite current efforts, more comprehensive studies are needed, especially for classification and investigation of the genetic background and prognostic factors for patients with CVID in order to better managment and followup of patinets.