UNC School of Medicine researchers have been testing a treatment that could protect people from severe allergic reactions to accidental peanut exposure.
The treatment, called sublingual immunotherapy, or SLIT, involves exposing patients allergic to the nuts with tiny amounts of peanut protein in order to better handle situations where they might face unintended exposure to peanuts, such as in restaurants or packaged foods.
Lead researcher Edwin Kim describes this as the first long-term result of SLIT showing tolerability, safety, and substantial protection, adding, “With sublingual immunotherapy, we hope we can maintain our safety profile while seeing an even stronger benefit for patients.”