Annals 80th anniversary: Immunotherapy for food allergy

The 1944 edition of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma& Immunology held the seed of an idea that today, some 80 years later, has come to define the field of food allergy. The article —entitled “Experimental approach to oral treatment of food allergy: Chemistry of food propeptans”—was conducted by Austrian dermatologist Erich Urbach, a war émigré who had escaped Nazi persecution to take up a position at the University of Pennsylvania.1 Alongside detailed chemical explan ations of the hydrolysis of food proteins, the article contained a surprising laboratory finding: guinea pigs who had been “allergenized” to egg white, and subsequently fed partially digested egg protein, were protected from anaphylaxis when later challenged to egg white.
Source: Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology - Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research